#but /srs why are his feet so weird to draw

[alitteraladhdmess]

Finished a drawing right before my iPad died during school

This one’s of my doomed timeline Leo and his Dino feet

[one-boring-person]

I loved writing this idea, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Thanks for requesting @jawline-of-steel !💛💛

You Wanted To Talk To Me?

Edgar Frog x reader

Warnings: mentions of injury

A/N: this is heavily referenced to my other series, Only Traitors Consort With The Damned, which you can find on the masterlist.

Masterlist

"Man, just talk to her." Alan rolls his eyes as they stumble through the training course together, wet mud slicking their trousers and shirt fronts, hair and clothes soaked through from the pelting rain, bodies trembling from how hard they've been working.

"Talk to who?" Edgar responds, playing dumb as they throw themselves at a climbing wall, chests smashing painfully into the solid surface.

Neither if them speak for a minute as they haul themselves upwards, cresting the wall with some difficulty as their leaden arms struggle to hold their weight, their muscles screaming in protest, though they both manage it. From the top, the rest of the course is visible, a few other cadets just ahead of them, each of the pairs released from the starting point in "waves" so that they can be timed. Both of the boys sigh out audibly as they take in the view, not taking too much time as they swiftly climb to their feet and leap from the top, reaching for the heavy ropes hanging from a structure across from them, the rough material grazing their hands painfully as they slip down it a little. Ignoring the discomfort, they swing their legs in time with the momentum of the rope and kick off it, landing on a far platform, rolling as they land, ending up face first in yet more dirt, signifying the beginning of a net crawl.

"You know who I mean, Edgar. (Y/n)! You should talk to her." Alan manages to explain, voice strained from the exertion required to pull his body through thick mud.

"Why should I talk to her?" Edgar grits out, hands scrabbling frantically in the filth as he struggles to pull himself through this particular obstacle, glad to see the end if it not far out of sight.

"Because it's very obvious that you like her."

"I don't like her." The response is almost automatic, a reflex designed to protect his real feelings about their fellow trainee.

In truth, Edgar had had a crush on the girl for a good few months, having been interested in her as soon as he first laid eyes on her, nearly six months ago, when he and his brother signed up for the SRS. Neither of them had ever really thought about taking their vampire hunting that seriously, but this all changed when the dark-clad Soldiers converged on Santa Carla, their hometown, a couple of years ago, hunting down one of their own, who was seen as a traitor. The hooded men had come into the comic shop searching for some help, only to be confused by the Frog's zealous attitude and rough introduction to the supernatural side of the town, swiftly recognising potential in them. When their Hunt was over, the result of which they never found out, the men returned to the shop, offering to enlist them in the training program as soon as they turned the correct age, stating that the minimum age for joining the SRS is sixteen. Now at that age, the Frog brothers were quick to travel to New Orleans, where they found the headquarters and signed up, completing the theory section with flying colours before they moved onto the physically demanding practical side: hunting.

When they first started this stage, the two of them were easily overshadowed by some of the others in the group, despite already having four kills under their belts (so to speak), their smaller stature allowing some of the larger, physically stronger cadets to overtake them in the rankings, though it was much to their surprise when they found out one of the best was a girl named (Y/n). With a pretty much unknown backstory, the sixteen year old girl had shown up many of the other cadets, holding her own in many of the harder exercises, showing off her aptitude for shooting and fighting, flooring some of the most muscular rookies training with them with ease. It was no wonder Edgar developed a crush on her.

"Frog! I do hope you intend on moving soon, or you'll be stuck on clearing duty for a week!" A senior officer snaps at him from somewhere to his left, drawing him from his brief lapse into his head.

"Yes, ma'am!" He shouts back, knowing how they hate to be ignored.

"Get a move on!"

Gritting his teeth, Edgar follows his brother out onto the next stage - a variety of elevated logs providing bridges across a swampy areas of ground. In the pouring rain the logs have already become waterlogged, making them slippery and dangerous.

Approaching one, he leaps up and grabs the end of it, quickly heaving himself onto the narrow stretch of wood, catching his balance before he steadily steps along it, going with the incline as much as possible, biting his lip as his feet slip a little on the wood. Nearing the end of the log, he locates the closest one to it and jumps to it, landing shakily on the lifted end, repeating the process until he has safely crossed it, catching up to his brother as they run the last few kilometres across the marshy land, breathing heavily in the pouring rain. The finish line comes into view, the posts signifying its presence only just visible through the rain, the flags topping them slapping wetly against the poles they are attached to, concealing the familiar insignia of the SRS from view.

With one last push, Edgar and Alan throw themselves over the finish line, trying not to collapse in exhaustion as they quickly stretch out their stiffening muscles, neither of them saying a word until they've caught their breath back, going to stand with the other cadets who have already finished it.

"One hour, fourteen minutes and forty-three seconds. Not bad, Frogs, not bad." The drillmaster informs them as they get close, the two of them brightening up slightly at the sound of that; it's a new personal best.

"Nice one, you two." A familiar voice congratulates them, the two of them turning to find (Y/n) standing there, a genuine smile on her features, mud striping her cheeks like war paint, most likely the result of her team mate getting a little over-zealous on one of the obstacles.

"Thanks." Alan smiles back, looking to Edgar as he struggles to reply.

"Err, yeah, thanks, you did really well, too." He finally manages, blushing as he looks away, suddenly feeling very hot.

"Thank you." She acknowledges, making eye contact briefly before turning away, going back to her team mate.

"You're smitten." Alan rolls his eyes, looking over at his brother in exasperation.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Stop trying to hide it, Edgar, I'm your brother, I see all these things."

*

The drillmaster's words ring clearly in Edgar's head as he steps through the darkened corridors, making his way in and around broken furniture and piles of ceiling debris, his helmet limiting his vision greatly.

"Don't get caught off guard, or they'll have your ass for breakfast."

Of course, you'd hope that he was being metaphorical, but the cadets are all aware of one fact: he isn't. Not when they've all been tasked with clearing an abandoned hospital of the supernatural beings squatting there, particularly the wraithes and their carnivorous tendencies, most of which are to blame for the hospital's fall in the first place.

A piece of glass shattering behind him snaps him from his thoughts, the sound instilling a sense of fear into him as he slowly turns, freezing in place when he sees a shape in the hallway behind him. From where he is, he can't tell what it is, but he knows it won't hesitate to kill him, so he lifts the gun in his hands to shoulder level, cocking it gingerly, body shaking in fear. Aiming steadily, he let's the flashlight roam across the shape, only to let out a breath when he sees what, or rather who, it is.

"(Y/n)?!" He hisses out to her, surprised that she is in this part of the building.

"Edgar? Is that you?" Her voice floats back over to him, the cadet holding up a hand to shield her eyes from the bright light.

"Yeah, it's me. You found anything yet?" He responds, secretly pleased that she actually remembers his name.

"No. Have you?" She clarifies, coming over to him, her gun held comfortably over her abdomen as she stays prepared, ready to shoot anything dangerous.

"Not yet."

"That's good." She looks him in the eye, "I kinda wanted to talk to you, though this probably isn't the best time."

Edgar gazes at her, surprised at what she is saying, an eyebrow lifting under the visor of his protective helmet.

"You wanted to talk to me?" He asks, incredulous.

"Yeah, I do." She nods, looking away again, her fingers tapping nervously on the stock of the gun.

"What about?"

She is silent for a minute, before she takes a deep breath and responds, relaxing her shoulders as she tries to stay calm.

"I just wanted to tell you about how I feel about you. Edgar, I know this is weird because we don't really know each other, and you probably don't feel the same way, but I, well, I like you. A lot."

There is an awkward moment of quiet between us as he tries to figure out how to respond correctly.

"You...you like me?" He finally manages to ask, not quite believing what he heard before.

"Yeah, I do. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just thought you should know." (Y/n) explains, going to move past him, before he stops her with a hand on her arm.

"(Y/n), I've had a crush on you for the longest time, I just didn't know how to tell you." He informs her, waiting for a reaction.

"...really?"

"Yeah. Just ask my brother, he figured it out pretty quickly."

She smiles beneath her visor, clearly much happier now that the initial worry is over.

"I'm glad. Maybe when we get some free time, we could go on a date?" She suggests, adjusting her grip on the weapon.

Edgar smiles back at her.

"I'd like that."

[firaknight]

Follow up of Adeleines opinions on the helpers :) (stuff in parenthesis is the ability they have)

Blade Knight (Sword): 7/10 Mysterious little dude:

He’s cool! He’s kinda hard to understand at times (he’s got a thick accent, idk what kind), but he’s very nice! He’s got a lot of standards when it comes to swordsmanship and is very strong! He’s working on showing Adeleine the proper stances for sword fighting (it’s possible for her to emulate that style with her paintbrush, minus the cutting ability of a real sword).

Chilly (Ice): 9/10 Snowed Man!!

Snowed man friend!!!! He’s very serious about things but he’s a good friend! Only problem is he has to stick around Adeleines Ice Dragon drawing to prevent the poor guy from melting (they’re working on finding an eternal ice that won’t melt so he can stay cold!). He likes to make snow cones!!! (Which are hella good btw)

Bio spark (Ninja): 8/10 Speedy!!!

One of the fastest helpers around! They’re speedy, sneaky, and all around a mysterious little dude! They have a habit of showing up so quietly that nobody notices for a good couple minutes before they’re just like “I wasn’t even hiding I’ve been standing here this whole time.” Overall, odd but kind little friend!

Birdon (Wing): 7/10 Soft birdie!!!

They’re just a little birdie!!! Birdons probably the most carefree helper out of the bunch, and they like relaxing really high up (much to Adeleines dismay). They tend to make stuff out of the feathers they shed (and they shed very often), so they’re always giving friends bracelets, headgear, jewelry, and such made out of their feathers. Adeleine actually has a coat lined with their feathers and it’s SUPER warm! They’re a little strange (and Kawasaki keeps trying to cook them [see: Star Allies title screen skits]) but they’re a wonderful buddy!

Wester (Whip): 9/10 Yeehaw man!!!!

Dude is legit just a very small cowboy. He cannot help his smallness... He’s agile and absolutely has an accent when he talks. He’s a little chaotic, but has a good heart. Probably taught Adeleine how to mount and ride a grizzo just for fun. She’s got a cowboy hat he made for her!

Plugg (Plasma): 10/10 Old friend!

She’s known Plugg since Crystal Shards! The two are good friends and Plugg likes to paint with her! He’s got some... interesting ways of painting (sticking his entire face into paint and then running facedown on the canvas), but he’s a lovely friend! He likes to run around a lot tho, probably because he’s constantly generating electricity and needs to burn it off so it doesn’t overload him. Will absolutely charge electrical devices without a second thought.

Como (Spider): 6/10 Spider...

While they’re similar to Taranza, they have a lot more spider tendencies, and therefore kinda scared Adeleine. She’s tolerable of them (more so than Susie), but tries to keep her distance. They’re helpful and are very very very sweet!!! They just tend to do creepy spider things and it freaks her out...

Bugzzy (Suplex): 7/10 Massive bug dude

He’s like... huge. Closer to, if not taller, than Adeleines height. He has very sharp pincers on the front of his face, and they can be painful when used, so he either wraps them in bandaging or puts rubber caps over them! That way he can grab and hold friends without harm! He’s oddly cuddly and likes to carry people around (not neccisarily throwing them) in his pincers. Overall, big doofus bug who has lots of love.

Broom Hatter (Clean): 8/10 Clean freak

Literally cannot handle dirty shit. At all. Has the urge to clean everything. Perks are that they keep the base everyone hangs out in super duper clean! Adeleines taught them to draw and it helps them not want to compulsively clean everything. They make really pretty art!

Poppy Bros Jr. (Bomb): 9/10 Funky lad!

He’s got an older brother of the same name (Poppy Bros Sr.) and he’s a boss in training! One day he hopes to be just as good as his brother! Dude is ultra high energy (which is why he’s always hopping around) and tends to be a little obnoxious. They can’t entirely help it, they’re just energetic! They’ve taught Adeleine how to yeet explosives and she’s genuinely good at it!

Rocky (Stone): 7/10 He is literally just a rock

Sentient rock! He’s a little slow and can’t really talk, but he’s a buddy! He likes to just turn into his stone form and just sit like that. It’s comfy and feels like home to him. Will not hesitate to use himself as a step or a seat for someone if needed. He also gives everyone hes friends with a special rock! Adeleines has marbling to it and looks absolutely beautiful!

Waddle Doo (Beam): 8/10 Funky little man!

He’s got only one eye and therefore has poor eyesight. You’d think one eye would be better, but nope! He wears essentially one huge contact lens to help! They’re buddies with Parasol Dee and Bandee!!! Doo is on the calmer side of the group, and tends to not be so insanely high strung. He’s still a little anxious, but he’s better at covering it than the other. He hangs out with Wester sometimes (whip-like attack squad)

Chef Kawasaki (Cook): 2/10 Hes creepy and I don’t like him.

He has this weird... unsettling energy about him. He’s tried to cook both Coo and Birdon more than once and she genuinely doesn’t like being around him. He makes good food, which has stopped him from being a 0/10 in her book, but thats it. He’s only there because Kirby thought he’d be a nice addition and everyone knows that if Kawasaki crosses the line he will get booted on the spot. (Kirby has standards too!)

Gim (Yo-yo): 7/10 Hes just a robot huh.

He’s kinda strange, and doesn’t appear to have a lot of feeling, but Gims really nice! He likes to show people all the tricks he can do with his yo-yo (which is surprisingly a lot) and gives all his friends a yo-to so they can do the tricks along with him (Adeleines is teal with red and black stripes. It’s also got a couple paint splotches on it that we’re added on purpose).

Burning Leo (Fire): 8/10 Toasty heater child!

They’re small and warm!!! All the time!!! They like to be held and snuggle up to cold stuff because it’s the same feeling as snuggling up to warm stuff for humans. REEEEAAALLLYYY wants to hug Chilly but there is the very real possibility that Chilly will literally melt so he holds off from that. Adeleine tends to be cold and likes to hold Leo like a hot water bottle. He’s learned how to make his head fire harmless so people can hold him and not get burned!!

Driblee (Water): 9/10 Oh my god they’re adorable!

Sothisispartiallyjustmebecauseilovethewaterabilityimsorry They’re a little lizard mermaid! They adore swimming more than you’d think and hold pool parties!! They hang around Chilly because their water tends to be on the colder side and Chilly can use them to reform melted bits of Adeleine can’t get Ice Dragon to do it. They’re actually made entirely out of water! They can literally transform back into water by going into water. This also means that they can conform to spaces not meant for them like bottles and containers. They like to make drinks for people since the water they use for attacking is some of the cleanest water out there! (It also tastes super fucking good)

Bonkers (Hammer): 7/10 Kinda scary...

He’s big, taller than Adeleine (especially if he stands fully upright), and has an intimidating look, but he’s all bark and no bite! Dude is literally just a ball of sunshine! He likes to carry people around and will 100% shield someone from attacks (he’s sturdy!!!). He’s helping Adeleine with her strength because she’s fragile and a little scrawny and he’s all muscle (shes gotten a lot better!). Shes got her own lightweight hammer he lets her use so she can get a little stronger!

Sir Kibble (Cutter): 9/10 Smol knight!

He cannot help his size... but he’s tough! He also has no fucking braincells and does not think but he’s a good boy! He likes to headbutt people but his helmet poses a problem (it literally has a blade attached to it) so he puts a padded pool noodle over it to protect others (the padding is so the noodle doesn’t get chopped from the blade itself when force is applied). He’s just a little dude with no thoughts... head empy...

NESP (ESP): 4/10 They talk too much and know stuff about me that I never told them.

Strange and not very cool :( They have a tendency to read other people’s minds because they purposefully don’t tune their thoughts out and therefore know a lot of stuff they really shouldn’t. They also don’t know how to keep their mouth shut. Thankfully they’re just funky from psychic power and on a good day they’re kinda nice to be around!

Vividria (Artist): 10/10 THATS MY ADOPTED SISTER!!

They’re siblings. Drawcia adopted Adeleine as one of her own and that makes Vividria her sis! They paint together and Vividria kinda sticks up for Adeleine in more dicey fights because of Adeleines low HP. They’re the bestest of friends and are super cool with one another! She’s still growing and is one day gonna reach Drawcias size!! (If we put it into normal heights [Adeleine being 5’3” and Kirby being 1’8”] Drawcia is over double Kirby’s height. Probably closer to 3-4 feet)

Parasol Waddle Dee (Parasol): 9/10 Oh my god they’re just a smol friend...

Dee is literally almost as high strung and anxious as Bandee but they’re so sweet!! They like rain!! They also give parasols to all their friends! (Adeleines is teal with paint splotches!) They tend to nap a lot and will totally join cuddle piles. On hot days they’ll utilize the chumbrella as a big shade for everyone in the nap pile. Just a squishy little dee!!!!!

Knuckle Joe (Fighter): 10/10 Hes super supportive and nice!

He saw how fragile Adeleine was and said “aight so I may not be a master but I’m gonna teach this kid how to fight” and didn’t wait for any objections. Once a week he goes out into the forest with Adeleine and shows her how to fight like him! Physical combat is important!!! She can’t fire off energy blasts or deal lightning speed punches, but she’s getting there! He’s ultra supportive of everyone and loved to teach people stuff!!! He care about everyone!!!!

Beetley (Beetle): 8/10 Why is he so angy!!

Always grumpy. He says it’s because he keeps losing to Bugzzy but it’s just because he’s super small and gets picked up like a burger all the time (if you didn’t wanna be held like a burger don’t be burger shaped idiot). Isn’t aggressive but will headbutt people with the blunt end of his horn when he’s being extra grouchy. Adeleine likes picking him up because he gets all stiff like a ferret (when you pick them up and they stick their feet’s up all stiff).

Jammerjab (Staff): 9/10 Funky but fun!

Was originally really wary of them because of the whole Void Termina thing and their assosciation with the bad guys wasn’t a good thing but they’re super cool! They’re graceful and like to stand on their staff a lot. They also help the smaller helpers get stuff up high (they themselves are small but their staff can extend a lot so they can use that for extra height). They let Adeleine use their staff and she’s not that good at it (she always whacks herself in the face while trying to use it) but it’s a nice gesture! They know a lot about the Jambastion and like to tell people all the wacky secrets it holds (like how Hyness has an entire room full of just robes that all look the exact fucking same or how theres a specific set of hallways that move and change to get trespassers lost in them). Honestly a fun little guy to be around

[sorceress-coffee]

To Catch a Changeling

AO3 Link

Jim and I finished cleaning up the damage Nomura had caused before mom woke up. Jim explaining that she had fallen asleep right after Ms. Nomura left. “Must have been exhausted from my shift,” She yawned, standing. “I’m going to head to bed kiddos. Don’t stay up too late. Weekend or not you need your sleep.” She smiled, heading up to bed.

“So…” Jim began, sitting at the kitchen counter with me.

“So?” I asked, arching a brow at him.

“How long have you and Draal been… dating? Courting?” He asked, not sure which term to use.

I smile, “Courting. Three days, though I technically didn’t give him an answer till after your fight.” I explained.

“Why not?” Jim asked, curious.

“He asked me to wait, probably worried about the fight. He wasn’t planning on killing you till Blinky insulted him at the bar. Just so you know.” I told him. Watching for his reaction.

He groaned, “Now you tell me?” Sighing he put his head on the counter, “You’re happy, right?” He asked, looking up at me again.

I tilted my head in confusion, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“With Draal I mean, he makes you happy right?” Jim clarified, sitting up with a serious expression.

I smiled softly, nodding. “Very happy,” I clasped his shoulder, “You don’t need to worry about him when it comes to me Jim, you know better than anyone I don’t take people’s shit.”

He laughed and nodded, “Then I’m happy for you. Won’t it be weird though? Compared to trolls we age very fast.”

I shook my head, “Humans age fast compared to Trolls, but I’m not human. Vendel told me centuries was still considered young for a sorceress. I don’t think I have to worry about aging too fast.”

Jim’s eyes widened, looking at me in slight awe. “You’re going to be extremely old one day,” he teased.

I laughed, ruffling his hair. “Shush you! I will be a thousand years old and yelling at kids to get off my lawn!” I grinned pulling back. “So, it doesn’t bug you?” I asked.

Jim shook his head, “He makes you happy, that’s all that matters. Besides, you and I both know that humans can be trash in marriages,” he said, frowning at the thought of his dad.

I hugged him tight, “Yeah, though, Claire’s lucky. You’re already trained.” I teased, letting him go.

He laughed before getting up, “I’m heading to bed, need anything?”

I shook my head, “No, I’ll be up after I check on Draal. Night Jim.” I waved him off as he headed upstairs. I went to the basement, heading down to find Draal sniffing at the walls. “Something wrong?”

Draal hummed, knocking his knuckles against the wall he was sniffing. “You mentioned making an entrance down here, this wall leads to the sewers.” He explained, punching through it to make a fist-sized hole. “See?” He asked, stepping back.

I laughed but looked through the hole. “Alright, looks like we know where your door will go.” I smiled up at him. “How are you doing?”

Draal looked down at me in thought for a moment, “I am fine, grateful that the Trollhunter didn’t kill me, and… elated that you accepted, honor-less, and all.”

I shook my head, “It might not mean much, but protecting my family, protecting me tonight, that was honorable. If the trolls that have known you longer than I have, can’t see how honorable you are, they don’t deserve to be around you. Let Trollmarket judge, you are an amazing warrior, trainer, and mate.” I told him, nuzzling under his chin. “Never let anyone tell you otherwise.”

He smiled, hugging me close. “You are a strange one River. You damn honor over life, yet refuse to let others insult mine.”

“Yeah, well I’m your strange one, and I’ll fight anyone who tries insulting my mate,” I said, feeling protective of Draal, even if he was more physically capable of protecting himself.

He grinned at the mention that I was his, nuzzling under my chin. “I’m going to have to keep an eye on you if you start picking fights.” He stated.

I shrugged, “To be fair, I was never one for rules, and I’m going to get in trouble. Between Jim and I, I’m the reckless one.”

“You sound as if you’ve always been more Trollish than human,” Draal smirked.

I grinned up at him, “Considering I was never human? Makes a lot of sense, whether I knew it or not. Though weirdly, I’m not human and Jim is since we’re blood-related.” I tilted my head in thought.

Draal sat by the furnace, holding me as he hummed, “Well, you would only need to have one parent with magic in their blood. How are you related to Jim?”

“His father and mine were brothers,” I told him, relaxing in his hold.

“Then your mother was a sorceress. What happened to your parents, you mentioned understanding the pain of losing family before?” Draal asked, unsure if he should be asking.

“Well… my mother passed away while giving birth to me, at least that’s what I’ve been told. There aren’t documents on her death, so I’m not sure. My father, he went missing when I was about 5 years old. Since uncle Jim, who is James Lake Sr., was my closest relative, he and aunt Barbara, who you know as my mom, adopted me. Jim was only 3 years old when I came to live with them.” I told Draal, patting his arm to reassure that it was okay to ask.

Draal frowned realizing I didn’t know anything about my family. “That is… unfortunate.” He states, not sure how to react, choosing to nuzzle the top of my head in comfort.

I shrugged, leaning into the contact, “I’m just grateful that I got to grow up with Mom and Jim,” I smiled, nuzzling him. “I might not have ever found out what I was if I wasn’t here, and I probably would have never been to Trollmarket, or have met you. So, I am very grateful that I’m here…” I trailed off into a yawn, huffing at my tiredness. “I can’t wait till I fully adjust; I’d rather stay up with you over sleeping…” I pouted.

Draal chuckled at the pout, “You should head up to bed, you still need to rest,” he scolded lightly.

“Do you need anything? Blankets or pillows? Maybe a rock?” I asked, unsure of how to keep him comfortable.

Draal shook his head, getting up to carry me to the stairs, “I will be fine, I can work on carving out a doorway tonight.” He sat me on my feet, nuzzling my cheek. “Good night, River.”

I rub my eyes, smiling at him. “Good night, Draal.” I kissed his cheek before heading upstairs to bed.

[Third-Person POV] Nomura rushed to Strickler’s house, snarling as she entered. “We have a problem.”

Strickler sighed, looking up from the book of Ga-Huel, “What happened to you?” He asked taking in her disheveled appearance.

“The Trollhunter and his little guardians happened!” She growled, sitting on one of the lounge chairs, “I was right.”

“About?” Strickler asked, putting the book down.

“The Witch, it was Draal’s scent on her.” Nomura huffed, rubbing the tender stone where River clipped her.

“Oh, and are we sure she’s a witch? Bular could be exaggerating.” Strickler snickered, watching her tend to her wounds.

Nomura snarled, baring her teeth at him, “She can wield daylight, and I don’t mean the damned sword, I could’ve been turned to stone!” she barked at him, annoyed that he was enjoying this.

Strickler’s face fell, looking to the book of Ga-Huel, “A sorceress that can wield daylight means…”

“Merlin’s blood.” Nomura finished for him, smirking at the fear on his face. “Bular won’t be happy to know he has a successor.”

“We are going to deal with this problem, it looks like we will be having two changelings brought in,” he explained, smirking.

Nomura’s eyes narrowed, studying Strickler, “Two? We only made the exchange for one.”

Strickler smirked, pulling out his phone, “and they would be too young to deal with her, so I’ll bring in someone more age-appropriate. If she likes the son of Kanjigar, then I have the perfect changeling in mind.” He turned to Nomura; eyes glowing. “She could be an asset if manipulated properly.”

Nomura grinned with a snarl, “Now that is interesting. What of Gunmar?”

Strickler waved her off, heading out the door. “I’ll convince Gunmar that she can be used.”

After watching him leave, Nomura huffed, settling on the lounge chair to rest, “Is it that simple?”

[River’s POV] I decided to spend my day with Draal and far away from Trollmarket, still angry with how they had treated him. We were sitting in the basement going over how to fix it up to make him comfortable.

“So, to get a metal door, we can check the scrap yard for different items. Do you sleep at all?” I asked Draal, sitting in his lap and drawing the plans out as we came up with ideas.

Draal nodded, “Not as often as human’s but yes.”

“What kind of bed do you need? Do you need a bed?” I tilted my head back enough to look up at him.

“Trolls make their own ‘beds,’ since how we sleep isn’t as simple as it is for humans.” He explained smirking down at me.

“Is it because you all have different features? Like Vendel couldn’t sleep on his side due to his horns?” I ask, returning his smirk.

Draal nodded, “Yes. I prefer to sleep on my back, but with the spikes, I have to find soft malleable materials so they don’t tear the bed apart. I tend to build more of what you call a nest.”

I grinned trying to imagine Draal picking twigs like a nesting bird. “So, we need lots of blankets and pillows, maybe a frame so it holds shape.”

Humming at the suggestion, Draal tilted his head in thought. “With a frame, I wouldn’t have to rebuild it often.” He grinned, nuzzling my cheek.

I laughed, nuzzling back before pulling away. “I’m going to assume you like that idea then?” He simply nodded as I drew out dimensions for a squared frame.

“All right. Do your worst.” Jim’s voice came from the window leading to the back yard. Draal and I looked at it confused. Hearing Toby grunt, the distinct sound of Daylight cutting through something, and a small explosion, we exchanged worried glances, getting up quickly to check on the boys.

Heading out the back door we see Toby cheering from the ground as shredded paper floats around the backyard. Jim was using daylight on all the junk Draal and I moved out of the basement. “It’s like a ticker-tape parade of awesome!” Toby yelled, throwing his arms up.

Draal growled, heading out the door, irritated that they were fooling around with the armor. “What is this mockery?” he snarled to Jim.

“Oh, hey, Draal. River.” Jim greet us both as I walked up next to Draal, surveying the damage Jim and Toby were able to do. “Just working on some sword fighting skills.” Jim chuckled nervously.

“By shredding old magazines?” I asked, arching a brow at Jim’s idea of training. This couldn’t be what Blinky had been teaching him. He wouldn’t have bested Draal if that was the case.

Draal stalked forward, staying in the shade the sun continued to set. “The sword of Daylight is not a toy to be played with.” Draal began to scold Jim, he and Toby lining up to take the scolding. I smirked watching them as Draal continued, “It is a hallowed obligation I have spent my entire life training to be worthy of.”

Jim winced slightly, looking at the sword before swinging it up. “Want to take it for a spin?” He asked Draal, who only snorted in response. Jim held the sword out to him, serious about him taking it.

Draal looked from the sword to Jim in disbelief before taking it slowly. He raised the blade so the metal could reflect the setting sun, his eyes widened seeing something in the blade before it began to glow, disappearing in the light. Draal stared at his empty hand, sighing as the blade return to Jim’s hand.

“Sorry. I forgot.” Jim frowned, hoping that hadn’t upset Draal more.

A pained expression flashed across Draal’s face before turning to face Jim. “If my destiny is to not hold the sword, perhaps it is to teach you how to properly wield it.” Draal grabbed a lamp we had brought out along with the other junk from the basement, he threw the lampshade off before swinging at Jim, demonstrating different techniques before bringing it down toward Jim’s head.

Jim squeezed his eye shut, flinching at the thought of getting his lights knocked out by a lamp. Opening his eyes after a moment to see the lamp had stopped a hair from his head.

“Your blade is but an extension of your body, and your body and extension of your eyes.” Draal turned to me smirking, swinging towards me. I pulled my lance out, extending it as I blocked the lamp from hitting me, sliding down to where Draal held the post I shifted the lance so it was still holding him back but I was able to smack the side of his head. Jim and Toby watched, mouths hanging opening at the speed Draal and I used. Toby grinned, settling himself by the fence, excited to see what would happen.

Draal grinned at my attack before pulling away to face Jim. “Like that. Now, mimic my movements Trollhunter.” Draal began in a resting position, the lamp held out in front of him. Jim copied the stance then Draal swung the lamp down swiftly before pulling it up over his head, standing on one foot.

I leaned on the fence next to Toby, smirking as I realized these were the same movements Draal had taught me when he began training me.

Toby looked up to me, “So, you spent the whole day with Draal? How was that?”

I laughed, sliding down the fence to sit with him, “Oh right, you don’t know yet.” I was about to explain but Toby snickering cut me off.

“That you and Draal flirt? It was obvious.” He said, mischief oozing from his smile. “So, when are you two going to start dating?” He asked, trying to tease.

I smirked at him, “A little late for that Tobes, we’ve been courting for almost a week now.” I grinned at the surprise on his face.

“Courting? Isn’t that like, more serious?” He asked, cheering as Jim was able to incorporate more moves into the training.

I nod, “From what I know it is.”

Toby smirked at me, “Well, at least you have a boyfriend as dense as you. Since he’s, you know, kind of made from stone.”

“What do you mean dense?” my brow furrowed as I looked to Toby, confused by his comment.

“You seriously have no idea when someone is trying to flirt with you, you straight up told ‘Tight Jeans’ Hank to, ‘piss off’ was it?” He laughed at my confusion.

“He was being rude!” I huffed out, irritated that he found this amusing.

“Well hey, at least we know you recognized someone’s flirting.” Toby patted my shoulder, “Who knew they’d have to be a troll to get your attention?”

As the sun sank into the night, Jim had all the movements Draal had taught him down, easily maneuvering through them with Daylight. Sparring with him now, Draal flipped towards Jim, knocking him back before pinning him to the side of the house, lamp pressed to his neck. Getting in Jim’s face, Draal smirked, “A real fight is never predictable, Trollhunter. You have to expect the unexpected and learn to embody the armor, force it to do what you want,” he explained to Jim, keeping him pinned.

Jim looked at his open hand, lowering it under the post near Draal’s chest. He looked to the hand holding Daylight, focusing on it. Daylight glowed blue before disappearing from his left hand and reappearing in his right. He grinned, lifting the blade just enough to tap Draal’s chest.

Draal laughed, releasing Jim. Thrilled he was able to manipulate the armor. “Well done Trollhunter!” He clasped Jim’s shoulder.

A chime coming from Toby’s back pocket drew our attention. “Shoot! We’re supposed to meet Blinky at the museum now.” Toby scrambled to get up.

“Ah!” Jim jolted, letting the armor fade. “We’ll work on this more later, okay, Draal?” He asked while running after Toby, leaving Draal and me in the back yard.

Draal sighed, looking over the lamp before eating the lightbulb with a grin. I laughed, getting up. “How about we get some food?” I asked him.

“From the taco truck?” He asked, setting the lamp down, and fixing the shade on it.

I nod, nuzzling under his chin. “Yup, and we can check out the scrap yard for materials to fix the basement up!” I grin, walking out of the backyard, staying near the woods.

Draal hummed, excited for the taco truck, and curious about the scrap yard. “We need materials for a door, and a bed frame, correct?” He asked, falling in step with me.

“Those will get us started. We’ll still need pillows and blankets, maybe even a mattress for the bottom so it's more comfortable.” I listed off, as we head into town where the Taco Truck usually parks.

Once we made it to the Taco Truck, Draal stayed in the alley as I went to order. I ordered a box of burritos this time, grinning as Stuart, the Taco Truck owner, handed them over. “Have fun on your date!” He called out, after me.

I paused on my way back to Draal to look at Stuart confused, there’s no way he could’ve seen Draal in the alley. “Date?” I asked, eyeing him.

Stuart chuckled “Well you’re not ordering for Toby, and Jim only gets tacos, so you must be ordering for someone else, I just figured it was a little date.” He grinned, turning to close up the Taco Truck.

I smiled, running to Draal when his back was turned. Draal snarled pulling me close, having heard the conversation. “This fleshbag notices too much.”

I nod, smiling still, “Well he wasn’t wrong, this is what a lot of ‘fleshbags’ do for dates.”

Draal looked down at me confused, “Hide in alley’s while one orders food then go ‘scrapping,’ as you called it?”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I meant dinner and spending time together, away from the house.”

Draal tilted his head in thought before nodding. “Then these ‘dates,’ everyone goes on them?” he asked, picking me up to head to our billboard hiding spot.

“Hm, well for humans it’s something boyfriends, girlfriends, and fiancés do a lot, married couples too, oh and there are friend dates which are just doing date-like activities but you’re not a couple.” I tried explaining, looking up to see if he understood.

“Courting sounds easier, fewer steps involved, how is a friend different than a boy- or girlfriend? Or a fiancé?” Draal asked, more confused by the supposed titles, “Wouldn’t they all be considered friend dates?”

“No, a boyfriend is generally a boy you are in a relationship with, a girlfriend would be a girl you’re in a relationship with, friends are more along the lines of siblings, and fiancé is the when someone in the relationship proposes marriage to the other, once you’re married you are then called a husband or a wife.” I counted each step out on my fingers hoping I covered everything.

“Then in human terms, we are considered fiancés?” Draal sat me down on the ledge of the billboard before joining me, trying to understand the differences.

“Well, I’m not sure, it depends on how serious Troll courting is,” I told him, taking a burrito before handing him the box.

“Trolls do not court just anyone, if we don’t believe the person is worthy to be bonded to us for our entire existence then we do not pursue them.” Draal explained, sniffing at the box, gauging the new food.

“Then it’s more along the lines of fiancés!” I nodded to myself, blushing a bit realizing how serious it was for Draal to even consider courting me. “Which brings up a few questions. We haven’t known each other long even for humans, let alone Trolls.” I began, taking a bit of my food.

“River, that wasn’t a question.” Draal teased, watching how I ate before trying to eat his food.

I pouted, waving him off for a moment, “Shush, food was too tempting. How long does it usually take a Troll to figure out if they want to court someone?” I finally asked.

Draal paused, considering his words for a moment, “Anywhere between years and decades, usually. Though some have courted very early into meeting, it depends on the troll,” he answered, tossing another burrito in his mouth, enjoying the food.

“When did you know?” I asked, trying to focus on the food, I wasn’t the best at the conversations. As Toby pointed out, I could be very dense.

Draal smirked, eyeing me for a moment, “You didn’t back down. You believed you were as weak as any other human, and you still stood between the Trollhunter and me when I tried to throw you out of Trollmarket. You didn’t even seem to be bothered by the fact that I could’ve snapped you in two,” he explained, grinning.

I turned dark red, looking up at him in shock, “That was the first day we met! Before we even talked!” I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that a simple act of protectiveness was what had convinced Draal I was worth his time in the first place.

“I never said Trolls didn’t court after first encounters. They tend to make lasting impressions.” He spoke up, smirking as my face was changing colors, “What of you? You seemed to have had an answer right away, even though I asked you to wait.”

I let my head fall into one of my hands, embarrassed, “Well, I liked you right away. Even though you were angry and trying to scare Jim, I understood where it was coming from.” I looked up to the forest thinking, “It grew from our first walk home when we got to talk. When you stopped your fight with Jim to catch me from launching myself off a wall, walking me home after that too. Everything felt… normal? Like I was home.” I looked up at him to see his brow ridge furrow in confusion. “Does that not make sense?”

“Your home is with Bar-bu-rah and Jim. How was spending time with me home?” Draal asked, unsure of what I meant.

“I live in a house with mom and Jim, but it’s not home. Home doesn’t always mean the place you live at, it can also mean the place you want to be, where you feel like yourself.” I tried to explain, hoping it made sense. “I’ve always been out of place, even with my family, and no surprises there anymore, turns out I’m not human. With you though? I don’t feel out of place like I can do or be whatever I want.”

Draal nodded, smiling at my explanation, “You don’t feel like you have to hide.” He stated a look of understanding on his face as I nodded. Draal leaned down to nuzzle my cheek, still smiling. “I will never tell you what to be, or what to do. If I don’t understand something, I can ask.”

I smiled, nuzzling back as the red in my cheeks settle, “Thank you Draal,” I grin up at him, “Besides, I don’t think you’ll find anyone who’s not intimidated by you and isn’t scared to toss you in a fight.”

Draal laughed, picking me up. “That is very true! Even the trolls are too timid to fight me, you however hold no fear when it comes to picking a fight. Which isn’t always best, but you wouldn’t be my mate if you weren’t fearless.” He spoke, climbing down from the billboard so we could head to the scrap yard.

I laughed holding on, “I promise to keep my temper in check, mostly, and to not pick too many fights, which may vary depending on how insulting the troll or fleshy is being.” I state, raising my right hand.

Draal shook his head, laughing at my little vow. “I couldn’t ask for more. Though if you get hurt, I will break into Trollmarket and tear a limb or two off of the offender.”

I giggled at the thought of Draal running rampant through Trollmarket. “That would not end well for them.” I began pointing the way for Draal to go. “It’s on the other side of town. It shouldn’t be too busy with how late it’s gotten.”

Draal nods and allows me to lead from my perch on his arm. Pointing out different places in town as we passed by. Pausing at my favorite game shop, “Oh, there they have pieces for ‘Maces and Talons’ which is an amazing strategy game!” I explained to Draal as we continued, “There are two factions and the goal is to take over the other faction or find a way to kill the leader and take over that way.”

Draal smiles and hums during my explanation of the game, asking how it works until we reached the scrap yard. He climbed over the fence before setting me down. “This is an amazing source of materials, why do fleshbags discard these?” He asked as we got to work finding the pieces we needed.

“Not everyone likes to reuse items or find a new purpose for them, but this place is set up so other people can come in for the materials and use them, so nothing stays here too long.” I smiled, pulling up a large, thick sheet of metal to compare it to Draal’s height. “This one is close, maybe a little bigger.”

Draal took the sheet a holding it under his arm in case I changed my mind. “Do you get materials here often?” He asked, curious about my habits.

“Mostly for art projects. I build things and spray paint them, it’s a lot of fun!” I grin up at him, grabbing metal pipes to make a frame for his bed.

Draal hummed, taking more materials from me as we searched over the entire scrap yard, pausing to eat some of the shinier metal he finds. “I like this ‘scrapyard’,” Draal grinned, heaving the last of the materials we found onto his shoulder. “Anything else we need from here?”

I pulled out the drawings, checking what we grabbed so far, and comparing it to what we needed. “I think metal wise we are good. I’m going to have to find somewhere that sells giant pillows, or I could make them… which means fabric shop. I can run to one tomorrow after class to get those.” I nod to myself.

Draal chuckled, picking me up and tossing me up onto the shoulder not carrying the metal we found. “Alright, for now, let’s focus on this task or you’ll be breaking into the ‘fabric shop’,” he spoke, understanding that I could easily become distracted and focused on other tasks.

I laugh and pat between his horn, “Sounds good to me, let's get home so we can at least put your door up!” I grinned; glad we were able to make the basement work for him.

Draal smiles up to me as he heads off for home, staying in the trees to get to the back yard. He stopped outside seeing the lights on. “Someone’s back.”

I checked my phone for the time, “Mom should still be at work, it must be Jim.” I jumped off Draal’s shoulder going to the door. “I’ll check just in case.” I head inside, seeing Jim at the dining room with his textbooks out. “Jim is mom home?”

Jim shook his head, sighing as he let it fall to the textbook.

I waved Draal in before going back to Jim, worried about him. “What happened tonight?”

“The bridge is missing, they moved it and now Vendel thinks I’m making up stories. We have to find a way to weed out changelings to see if anyone else in town is working with Nomura and Bular.” Jim explained, sitting back up. “Blinky said he would have an answer tomorrow on how to find them.”

Draal came in and set the metal down by the door. “Unsurprising, Blinkous is fond of conspiracies and it has been an issue in the past for Trollmarket. I don’t doubt you or River though. If the bridge was here, they had to have moved it. We will find the changelings, Trollhunter.” He told Jim, clasping his shoulder reassuringly.

I nodded, agreeing with Draal, “We can help too, after all, it’ll be easier if we’re all looking for them.”

Jim smiles at Draal and me, “Thank you, I’m glad not everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

I snort crossing my arms over my chest, “I’m pretty sure I’d recognize the bridge I got thrown into during our fight.”

Draal growled slightly, “If you said it was there then it was. Vendel will get proof one way or another.”

Jim nodded, yawning. I smiled, ruffling his hair, “For now, I think you need to get some sleep. We’ve got class in the morning.”

“Alright, I don’t think I can stand looking at another algebra equation anyway.” Jim stood, heading upstairs to bed. “Night River! Night Draal!”

Draal nodded to him before grabbing the scrap metal and heading downstairs to the basement. I waved to Jim, following after Draal. “Ready to work on your door?” I asked, trying to suppress a yawn.

Draal chuckled, pressing his forehead to mine. “I will handle the door. You go rest for your learning prison. Jim will need help fighting if he uncovers a Changeling there.”

I huffed slightly but nod, nuzzling my nose under his jaw, “Alright, alright… We’ll get the rest of the stuff for your bed tomorrow; do you need to sleep soon?”

Draal tilted his head in thought, “I slept before my match with Jim so I should be fine for a while longer.”

“Okay, night Draal,” I smiled, kissing his cheek before heading up to bed.

“Good night River,” Draal spoke quietly, getting to work on the door, careful not to make too much noise as Jim and I slept.

The next day on our way to school Toby was asking about what we should do about the bridge moving. “So, say what we saw wasn’t just an illusion and they did move it. How could we possibly find it?”

“Well, I don’t think we’re gonna be lucky enough to stumble on it again, Tobes.” Jim sighed as we crossed the street onto the school campus.

“If we find more changelings, we either watch them or interrogate them.” I spoke up, “Or we could see if there is a way to trace the stones, if they found them in the first place why couldn’t we?”

“Well, all we know for sure is that Nomura didn’t move it by herself,” Jim said, looking around the street as we spoke.

“So, more changelings, that’s dangerous.” Toby huffed.

“Oh, no.” Jim became quiet, keeping his head down as Claire was dropped off near us.

“Claire? A changeling?” Toby asked, confused by Jim’s response.

“The letter?” I asked Jim, referring to the similar ones he wrote mom, Toby, and I.

Jim nodded, watching Claire, hoping she wouldn’t approach, “When I thought I was gonna die, I wrote Claire a letter, too, and told her everything.” He explained to us.

“Everything?” Toby asked, eyes wide.

“Everything,” Jim repeated, walking faster as the bell rings.

“There you are!” Claire yelled from behind us, running to Jim.

“Hey, Claire,” Toby greeted quickly.

“Hey, Colby, River.” She waved to Toby and me as she ran after Jim.

“It’s Toby. Not that it matters. You can call me whatever you like.” Toby called after her, grinning like an idiot.

I rolled my eyes and whacked him on the head, heading to my art class, “Don’t forget we’re eating off-campus for lunch!” I called after Toby before walking in.

During our lunch period, Jim, Toby, and I headed straight for Trollmarket, Jim was in a daze the entire way. Once we arrived, Blinky began explaining how we were going to uproot the changelings. “Master Jim?” He called out, confused by Jim’s daze.

“Master Jim!” Arrrgh yelled from behind Jim, causing him to jump and scream.

“Yes, sorry. Paying attention. Paying attention!” He quickly recovered from the scare, looking to Blinky.

“As I was saying,” Blinky began to explain again, “assuming that Killahead Bridge was in Arcadia, and it was indeed, as you say, delivered to a clandestine location, that would mean more changelings, scavenging, assembling and disassembling.” Blinky lead us towards a rocky opening with a giant metal door covered in windows. “If we can prove that the museum curator was not working alone, then Vendel might start believing that you saw Killahead Bridge.”

“So, we just need to find another Changeling,” I spoke up, keeping an eye on the time so we weren’t late for class.

“Then how do we find one?” Jim asked.

Arrrgh answered from behind us as we approached the door. “RotGut’s.”

“Purveyor of fine charms, totems, and spells.” Blinky said, gesturing to the door, “Follow my lead.” He instructed before knocking on the door and stepping back.

A window near the top of the door opened to reveal the blue eye of a large orange troll, “Ailment or curse?” He asked as a window near the bottom of the door opened to reveal the orange eye or a bluish-green troll.

“Oi, numbskull!” He scolded the taller troll behind the door, “I’m supposed to answer it!”

“But I already did answer it.” The taller of the two replied.

“What is not clear about ‘I deal with the customers,” He shut the window, “you handle the wizardry’?”

“What kind of wizardry items do they sell?” I asked Blinky as the trolls continued to argue behind the door.

“Anything you might need, and some you never knew you needed,” Blinky answered with a grin. I gave him a blank stare back, hoping he understood how unhelpful that answer was.

The Bluish-green troll opened his window again, “Welcome to RotGuts. How may we service you?”

“Totem, my good troll.” Blinky answered, getting closer to the window to whisper, “We suspect one of these fleshbags may be a changeling.”

The orange troll opened his window to peer down at us as soon as changelings were mentioned. Arrrgh tilted his head down slightly so he was in the orange trolls view, “Other fleshbags,” he stated simply.

“You’re gonna need a gaggletack.” The large troll spoke.

The bluish-green troll chuckled, “Unfortunately, you see, we’re running a bit short on those. Very hard to get.”

The large troll looked down confused, “but I’ve got a bag of them right here.”

“What in the world?” The smaller troll huffed. “If you’ll excuse us for one moment.” He shut the window and began to scold the taller troll.

“I thought we were trying to help these nice lads.” The larger troll responded to the smaller one’s muffled scolding, shutting his window. I giggled realizing the tall troll was too nice, while the smaller of the two had been trying to get more out of the deal.

“Gaggletack?” Toby asked, scratching his head at the confusing exchange.

“Rare artifact,” Arrrgh stated.

“Exceedingly rare. An object of great mystery. With physical contact, it reveals the true nature of a changeling.” Blinky explained.

Suddenly a drawer on the door opened and out came a metal horseshoe, hitting Toby in the face. “It hurts!” He groaned, falling back.

“A gaggletack… is a horseshoe?” I asked, picking it up, yelping as it burned my hand, letting it drop to the ground again.

“Made of pure iron, hurts magic.” Arrrgh frown, nudging my burnt palm with his nose.

“Why would you put such a precious thing on a horse’s foot?” Blinky asked incredulously. “Forgive me River, I forgot to warn you.”

Jim picked up the gaggletack, keeping it away from me, “So it reveals Changelings and hurts sorcerers? Are you going to be okay River?”

I nod, speaking the healing incantation quickly, sighing in relief as the burn fades, “All good, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to help much.”

Toby sat up confused, “Isn’t your lance made of iron? How come that doesn’t burn?”

“Treated,” Arrrgh spoke up, “Steel, not iron.”

I nod looking to the collapsed lance hanging off my belt. “So, that’s why Vendel wouldn’t let me touch it.”

“Indeed.” Blinky nodded to me before turning to Jim, “Beware, Master Jim, changelings are swapped with their human counterparts at birth. So, it is likely that these Troll-pretenders have dwelt amongst you for decades.”

I looked at my phone, eyes widening, “Bushigal!” I yelled, “We gotta get back to school!” I took off running for the entrance of Trollmarket.

Blinky’s mouth dropped at my cursing in Trollish.

“Gotta go Blink! Arrrgh! Thanks for the help!” Jim yelled as he and Toby ran after me.

Once we were back on campus, Toby was the first to try the gaggletack out on Coach Lawrence, who ended up making Toby do 50 push-ups for whacking him with a horseshoe.

During a passing period, Jim tried the gaggletack on Eli, I snorted shaking my head. “Even I could’ve told you that…”

Later on, Toby set up a horseshoe tossing booth. I spray painted a target and sign for him quickly and he waited for most of our break there.

I grabbed extra gloves from chem class so I could hold the gaggletack. During a theater break, when the drama class was held and if you were in the up and coming play you got to skip and rehearse, I went with Jim to check all the kids. Grinning I threw the horseshoe as hard as I could without using magic at Steve’s head. Huffing when it didn’t work, Jim retrieved the horseshoe from the other side under the red curtain.

Jim passed the gaggletack to Toby, who at this point began tapping people with it as he walked by, tired of looking for changelings and keeping track of who was already checked. He met up with Jim and me near our lockers.

“Any luck?” Jim asked, seeing Toby’s worn-out expression.

“Nope,” Toby sighed, leaning against his locker.

“Yeah, us too.” I sighed finally taking the gloves off and tossing them.

Toby peered around Jim and me as Strickler’s voice grew closer. “You, uh, try this out on Mr. Strickler?” Toby asked Jim.

“Come on. You think he’s one?” Jim asked. He and Toby began arguing over the gaggletack before Toby let go.

“Fine, we’ll do it later.” He spoke before yanking the gaggletack out of Jim’s hands and tossing it at Strickler’s feet. Strickler paused, looking down at the gaggletack, brow arched as he looked up to Jim, Toby, and I.

“Whoopsy! Slipped,” Toby grinned, trying to play it off a sheepish.

“Sorry.” Jim began to apologize before Toby cut him off, asking Strickler if he could pick the gaggletack up. I rolled my eyes at how obvious he was being.

Strickler scoffed, “And waste such idle hands as you own, Mr. Domzalski?” He asked gesturing to Toby.

Jim spoke up quickly, “Our backs!” He nodded to himself, “Coach Lawrence put us through the wringer this morning.” He chuckled, trying to play it off. Toby nodded quickly.

Claire walked up picking up the gaggletack, “Here you go, Mr. Strickler. Here’s your… horseshoe back.” She held it out to him.

“Thank you, Ms. Nunez, but that belongs to Mr. Lake,” Strickler spoke up, taking a slight step back.

“Oh. Well, that would explain the flying horseshoes.” She spoke, handing it to me at first since I was closest. When I didn’t move to take it, she moved on to Jim, holding it out. “So not going to ask.”

Jim chuckled nervously, taking the gaggletack. Stickler walked up behind Claire; a sympathetic look etched on his face. “Take care of your back, Young Atlas. Such is the danger of carrying the world on one’s shoulder.” He said before walking off.

“Very suspicious,” Toby said, eyes narrowed as he watched Strickler leave.

“Suspicious?” Claire asked, confused by the situation.

Jim chuckled slightly, noticing Claire again. “Claire.”

“Still here.” She shrugged, figuring she was missing something.

“What’s up?” Jim asked, scratching the back of his neck.

“You’re still coming home with me, right?” She asked.

Toby and I exchanged smirks as Jim smiled, “Oh, right!” He turned slightly to us, “Claire and I are gonna go to her house… for math stuff.”

I snickered at his terrible explanation, avoiding the gaggletack as Jim slammed it in Toby’s face, walking off with Claire. “Alright Tobes, I gotta go to the fabric store. Have fun at your appointment.” I waved, walking into town.

I walked into one of the larger shops in the town. Shelves lined the walls, overflowing with fabric and stuffing. Walking around I grabbed different gray and blue fabrics, setting them on the counter as I collected them. After grabbing about five different spools I filtered through the different types of filling, grabbing as many as I could carry to the counter.

A little old lady behind the counter finally took notice of me, “Ah! River! Working on another school project?” she asked, taking the filling from me.

“Hi, Ms. Kamaria, something like that… It’s for the school play. I need to make a giant bed for one of the scenes.” I explained, hoping she wouldn’t ask too much.

“A bed, huh? Do you have anything for the base yet sweetie?” Mr. Kamaria asked. She’s always been a help to me on different art projects.

“I have the frame done so far,” I explained, helping her bag the fabric and stuffing.

“Oh! I’ve got something that will work for the mattress if you want!” She grinned rushing to the back of the store.

I laughed as she rushed off to find whatever it was, she thought I needed. After years of shopping here, I learned quickly that if Ms. Kamaria said you needed something, you needed it. After a few minutes, she returned pushing a flatbed cart with large rolls of condensed foam.

“Here we go! You can use the cart to get everything home too, I know you’ll look after it for me.” She grinned up to me, wringing everything up.

I paid her asking price and loaded up the cart with everything. Waving to her as I left, “Bye, Ms. Kamaria! Thank you for the help!”

“Bye sweetie, good luck with your play!” She waved off, watching me head down the block before returning to her shop.

I pushed the cart, grinning at everything I picked up. This was gonna be fun to put together. As I got home, I brought the cart into the garage, rushing in and down to the basement to get Draal. “I got the stuff for your bed!” I grinned, hugging him once I got close enough.

He chuckled, returning the hug. “Is that where you’ve been? Your fleshy prison let out a while ago.”

I huffed, nuzzling under his chin, “Not the entire time, I was helping Jim and Toby look for changelings after class. Nothing turned up, but I now know I can’t touch iron.” Draal growled, checking my hands quickly. I smiled softly, “I’m okay, used the healing incantation.”

He nodded, turning my hands over a couple of times to make sure. “Alright, I’ll help bring in the materials.” He picked me up with a smirk, heading up the stairs and into the garage.

I laughed, settled on his back as he walked to the garage. He sat me down next to the cart, sniffing over the materials. Pausing at the rolled foam. “What is this?”

“It’s foam for the mattress portion, it's malleable enough that your spikes won’t damage it, and this way it won’t just be blankets and pillows!” I explained, grabbing the bags filled with stuffing for the pillows as Draal grabbed the rolls of foam and fabric.

As we got all the materials down in the basement, my phone went off playing Jim’s ringtone. “Hey, Jim... are you running?” I asked, hearing him out of breath.

“Toby! Dentist!” Jim yelled into the phone as he ran, I could hear the sound of his armor being activated.

“We’re coming,” I hung up, looking to Draal, “Toby found a changeling, from Jim’s panic, I think he’s in trouble.”

Draal nodded, picking me up and setting me on his back, opening the steel door to the sewers. “This way will be faster, hold on tight.” He instructed before taking off, running on all fours. I held on tight, using the GPS on my phone to guide us to Toby’s dentist's office.

When Draal and I arrived, Blinky, Toby, and Arrrgh were laughing hysterically along with Jim and another troll who was running around the examination chair. “What in Deya’s name is going on?” I asked, confused.

Jim pointed at the female troll, trying to gasp for air, “Changeling!” was all he could get out.

I jumped off Draal’s back, tacking my lance out, I held my breath, trying to stave off the laughing gas, and surged my magic through the lance. Shooting at the changeling, hitting her arm as Toby kicked her slightly out of the way as he was trying to get feeling in his limbs.

The changeling screeched as the arm my magic touched turned to stone and disintegrated. She snarled and lunged for me but Jim got in the way. She fell on him and snarled, pinning his arms. Jim was able to get one of his arms free, as he did, he focused on Daylight and it shifted from the pinned hand to his free one, plunging into the changeling’s chest, dusting her.

“There goes proof,” Arrrgh said from the ceiling.

“Oh, my gosh! She’s in my mouth!” Toby started yelling, coughing up dust.

I groaned looking down at the dust covering me. “This is disgusting…” Draal came over, pressing his forehead to mine, checking to make sure I was okay.

Jim’s armor deactivated as he groaned, “Oh, no! I killed our only evidence of changelings in Arcadia.”

“You finished the fight, Master Jim, and in self-defense for that matter.” Blinky sighed, patting his shoulder. “Vendel may continue to have his doubts, but we continue to have our lives. A fair bargain, I’d say.” Blinky smiled.

“Just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing in Toby’s dentist’s office, I only called River.” He asked, confused about how Blinky and Arrrgh knew to come.

“I thought it was possible that danger may come to either of you should you cross paths with the wrong changeling. So, we followed Tobias as a precaution.” Blinky explained as Arrrgh finally fell through the skylight into the office. “It looks like we are officially out of laughing gas. We should depart.” Blinking stated as he began to walk out.

Arrrgh being too big for the door began to climb out of the skylight again.

“Hey! Uh, excuse me, wait!” Toby ran around Arrrgh to Blinky, “Look at this place. Do you have some magic artifact that can clean up this mess? He asked quickly.

“Yes.” Blinky answered quickly, “I believe it’s called a ‘Tobias.’’

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Toby sighed, getting to work on cleaning as we all left.

Jim and I still were trying to dust ourselves off as we got home with Arrrgh, Blinky, and Draal. “Quick question, why did my magic turn her arm to stone, doesn’t that only happen in the sun, or with Daylight?” I asked, hoping one of them would have an answer.

Blinky paused, dismissively waving his hand, “Yes only the sunlight, Daylight, or creeper’s sun poisoning would produce that effect, therefore you must wield some for of daylight.” He kept walking into the kitchen before stopping short, registering his world before turning and grabbing onto my arms with all four hands. “You can harness daylight!” He yelled making me flinch back.

Draal snarled wrenching Blinky’s hands off of me and pulling me back towards him so Blinky would stay out of my face. “Watch it, Galadrigal.”

Jim came to stand next to us, “So, River can wield daylight, as in sunlight. Why is that a cause for you to freak out?”

Arrrgh spoke up, coming to stand behind Blinky, keeping him back from trying to get close while Draal was being protective. “Merlin’s blood.”

“Vendel mentioned something like that before, I thought it was a term for magic in general,” I asked confused, keeping my back against Draal’s chest.

“In general, it used to describe someone of magic descent, however being able to harness sunlight, that means you have Merlin’s actual blood in you! You’re a descendent in Merlin’s line!” Blinky clapped his hands, excited. “Wait until Vendel hears about this! He might turn to stone from shock!”

“Uh, Blinky, how would River be related, in A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore it states that he had no known offspring,” Jim spoke up, trying to diffuse Blinky’s excitement before it got out of hand.

“That is true, he had no children, but he did have a sister.” Blinky pointing one of his fingers up in his classic lecturing pose. “Lady Ganieda was Merlin’s younger sister, she too was born a sorceress and trained in the arcane, not much is known of her, however, she disappeared centuries ago.

I went cold, feeling the color drain from my skin, “What… did you call her?”

“Lady Ganieda?” Blinky asked, confused by my paling complexion.

“As in aunt Ganieda?” Jim asked, turning to me.

“Aunt?” Blinky asked, looking between Jim and me.

“River’s mother,” Draal spoke up, lifting me as I leaned back further into him. Not sure how to feel about what I learned.

Jim sighed, seeing that I was in shock, “It might be best to drop this.” He pushed Blinky and Arrrgh further from Draal and me so he could explain. “River doesn’t have any information about her mother, just that she died during labor, hearing that she’s a centuries-old sorceress and sister to Merlin? I think you can imagine the shock she’s in.”

Arrrgh nodded, frowning as he looked to me in empathy, knowing what it was like to grow up not knowing your family.

Blinky frowned, clearly understanding my reaction now, “I apologize, I did not know.”

I shook my head slightly, “I’m… fine. It’s just not what I expected…” I tried to explain, curling up in Draal’s hold.

Draal nuzzled the top of my head in a comforting manner, holding my curled-up form tight. “I will keep an eye on her tonight. You should rest Trollhunter.” He nodded to Jim, grabbing a blanket from the couch as he carried me down to the basement. He unrolled the foam coils we just got and made a quick nest for the night, leaning back against the wall so I could lay on his chest, wrapping the blanket around me.

“I think not knowing was easier…” I finally spoke up, head tucked under Draal’s jaw.

He hummed, petting my hair back, “Knowing scares you,” he finally spoke up, keeping his voice low.

“I’m unsure, I don’t know if it’s going to change anything,” I answered, slowly relaxing with Blinky’s excitement gone. “I’m already treated differently because I’m a sorceress, but what if being related to Merlin makes everyone act even weirder towards me?”

“Simple, we don’t tell anyone, and we’ll gut Blinkous if he does!” Draal made a tearing motion with his arms, obviously joking.

I laughed a bit, uncurling enough to lay along the length of his chest. “Thank you Draal,” I nuzzled his jaw before laying my head back down, keeping it tucked against his neck.

“Of course, you’re my mate, I’ll protect you, even from obnoxious trolls like Blinkous.” Draal smiled at the nuzzle, petting my hair again. “Rest, I’ll keep the vermin away.”

I nod slowly, feeling very protected as I fell asleep on Draal’s chest. Happy he wasn’t acting strange about my bloodline.

[one-boring-person]

Only Traitors Consort With The Damned. (Part Two.)

The Lost Boys x reader

Warnings: blood imagery, injury, mention of death.

Context: The reader helps out Paul with his little problem, and tries to figure out what another Hunter is doing in Santa Carla.

A/N: I know there has been quite a gap between this and the last part, but I think I'm gonna try and get a new part out every Sunday, so that I have time for requests, school work and other fics. I apologise if this is a bit short 💛💛

Masterlist.

Yet another strangled whine of pain escapes the shirtless vampire propped against the fountain before me, his slick blood already coating my hands generously after only five minutes of working the barbed splinters of wood from his muscular abdomen, the tweezers slipping in my grasp as I pull at one of the more deeply lodged pieces. Dimly, I am aware of the others watching me work, Marko biting his thumb so hard the skin has probaby broken by now, Dwayne silently eyeing my every move from his position beside David, whose face is etched with anger and frustration. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure there aren't that many left, maybe one or two, meaning that the vampire's discomfort should soon be over, something which I can tell will be gratefully appreciated.

Finally, the splinter I'm working at comes free, drawing yet another hiss of pain from Paul, whose head falls back against the fountain with a thud, blue eyes squeezed tightly shut as the wound starts to stitch itself closed, his natural healing ability kicking in pretty quickly. I drop the piece if wood on the floor beside me and wipe the tweezers clean on my shirt, seeing as it is already covered in blood, trying to pat away some of the crimson substance from the vampire's skin as I go, locating the next couple of places I need to pick clean. Biting my lip, I place a hand beside the wound and use two fingers to gently pry it apart, inserting the tweezers as I find the end of the splinter, clamping down on it even as Paul moans again, blood oozing out of the incision as I start to pull. This one eases out pretty smoothly, leaving only one more that needs removing, one which is right beside where his heart is.

"One more." I reassure him, cleaning the tweezers again before leaning forwards and inserting them into the hole in his skin, trying not to prod around too much as I search for the offending splinter, swiftly locating it and going to try and pull it out. Instantly, the tweezers slip off, the small piece of wooden shrapnel barbed and stuck in the flesh, meaning it'll be much harder to remove. Gritting my teeth, I carefully pull the hole open further, trying not to wince as Paul's hand instinctively comes up to grip my wrist, nearly crushing the bones there as he tries to get me to stop, his grasp only tightening as I finally manage to yank it free, one last cry of agony escaping him as he relaxes back against the fountain, nearly sobbing in relief. Sitting back on my heels, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, shaking my hair from my face as I wipe my hands on my shirt, slowly standing up from my kneeling position.

"All done, they should heal now." I say to him, turning to the others with a grim smile, knowing that my appearance is not the most impressive, what with my hands being covered in blood and all.

"Thank you, (Y/n). I don't honestly know what we would've done." Dwayne thanks me, smiling gratefully to me as he goes to help Paul up, Marlo going to aid him in that as the tall vampire continues to whine to himself.

"I don't know, pulling splinters out with tweezers is not the most technical thing in the world, is it?" I point out, watching as they help Paul to his feet and over to a sofa, where they give him back his shirt and jacket.

"No, but still. You didn't need to help us, so thank you." David speaks up, looking at me in earnest as he adjusts his gloves, body still tense.

"It's no problem, just don't tell my boss." I reply, grimacing at the last part, being able to imagine his face if he found out already.

"We won't." The platinum blonde smirks, lifting an eyebrow at me, well aware that what I'm doing could get me hunted to my death if I was ever caught.

Smiling at him, I look to the entrance of the cave, noting the lightness of the sky outside with a sigh, knowing I'll have to return home now, so I can deal with the Hunter tied to my floor. The vampires seem to realise this, too, all of them quickly saying goodbye as I make my excuses, leaving the cave with the tweezers slipped into my pocket, my jacket pulled tightly around me as I start the long walk home, thinking up a story to tell the man in question. It shouldn't be too hard - I can make something up about him being attacked, and then found by me a little while later, somehow left alive by the vampire. I iron out all the details as I trek through the forest, enjoying the slightly cooler temperature of the early morning, glad now that I live in a more natural area, rather than the lousy motel I was required to stay in before. With my head in the clouds, it doesn't take me as long as I thought it would to reach the ramshackle shed, the sounds of someone calling out from inside already audible from my position behind the tree line to its left. The Hunter must be awake.

Sighing, I go over to the door and unlock it, swiftly finding the Hunter on the floor when I've done so, his rugged face twisted into a scowl of annoyance, only for it to turn into an expression of confusion as he takes in my appearance, his legs pulled up to his chest in a defensive gesture, ready to kick out at me if I provoke him to do so.

"Thank God you're awake! I thought you might've passed in your sleep!" I sigh out, starting the charade immediately, smiling at him as I close the door behind me, making sure to show him the insignia on my shoulder as I turn.

"Who are you? How did I get here? And why the hell am I chained to the floor?" He growls out, clearly not too pleased with the situation. I frown at his reaction, as if annoyed that he's rejecting my "hospitality".

"I'm (Y/n), an SRS Hunter like you, and I dragged you here after you got attacked by vampires in the dunes. You're chained to the floor because I don't trust you not to steal from me and then run off." I inform him, going to the table and replacing the tweezers, "Now, you'd better not prove to be like that anyway, or I'll report you to a superior officer, and we all know how that will end. You should be thanking me, I saved your life after all."

At this, he looks up at me in surprise, sitting forwards slightly as I bend to untie him, rubbing his wrists gently as he climbs back to his feet, revealing his height to me - he stands a good head above me. Smiling tightly, I offer him my hand, only to realise it's covered in blood, swiftly withdrawing it with a soft apology.

"Why are you so...bloodied?" The Hunter asks me, watching as I go to the bucket of water in the corner, rinsing my hands and arms in the icy depths, "I'm Archer, by the way."

"I spent the rest of the night chasing down your attackers. I got them in the end, but they put up one hell of a fight." I explain, lying through my teeth as I straighten again, drying my hands on a cloth nearby, "Do you mind just stepping out as I change?"

With a nod, he leaves the shack, going to stand outside as I hastily remove my filthy shirt and trousers, replacing them with clean ones as I grab my jacket again, inspecting the damage, noting that it isn't too bad overall. Relacing my boots back up, I take a cereal bar from the small cupboard in the corner and go out to see if Archer is still there, glad to find him sitting on the log outside. As I exit, he looks over to me, watching as I walk over to where he is, smiling and thanking me as he accepts the cereal bar from me, carefully unwrapping it and eating it.

"So tell me, why did you come to Santa Carla?" I break the silence, looking over at him as he shrugs.

"I was told to by one of the superiors, someone called Elijah, I think. He said he wanted someone to come and check on the Hunter over here." He chews his food before continuing, "At least now I know who that Hunter is."

"Yeah, I guess." I muse, troubled by his words. Elijah is an old friend, I never knew he'd become a superior whilst I was away. But the fact that he wants to check on me? That doesn't bode too well for me.

"I just got a bit caught up with some vampires that were on that attraction thing, the Broadwalk or something." Archer says, finishing up the food.

"The Boardwalk." I correct him, smirking a bit at his attitude, finding him quite pleasant to be around, "You think you're gonna stay?"

"Nah, I don't like it here. It's too small and weird for me. I'll go back to New Orleans and say you're doing fine, I reckon they'll be ok with that." He assures me, looking around at the surroundings.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Do you want me to show you back into town?" I offer, eating my own cereal bar quickly, standing and going to the door of the shack, closing it and drawing the chain across in order to lock it.

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

Smiling, I gesture for him to follow me, leading him the quickest way possible back into town, glad that he's not looking into my residence too much.

A week passes before I receive the one thing I've been dreading, Archer's recount of events apparently not quite satisfactory.

A letter from the SRS, announcing the date of a visit from a senior officer, the situation here apparently needing assessment. When I find this, I try my best not to panic too much, knowing full well that I'm at risk of being found out.

Part Three.

[sorceress-coffee]

Trollhunters Ep 7

This is the longest chapter so far. Draal x River. We’re catching Changelings! I only own River and Ms. Kamaria, who is a little old shop keeper! Please enjoy and thank you for reading! Episode 8 will be special thanks to the inspiration from @insanity6666, thank you for your lovely messages and wonderful suggestions for the fic!

Episode 1 

Episode 6

Episode 8

Jim and I finished cleaning up the damage Nomura had caused before mom woke up. Jim told her she had fallen asleep right after Ms. Nomura left.

“Must have been exhausted from my shift,” She yawned, standing. “I’m going to head to bed kiddos. Don’t stay up too late. Weekend or not you need your sleep.” She smiled, heading up to bed.

“So…” Jim began, sitting at the kitchen counter with me.

“So?” I asked, arching a brow at him.

“How long have you and Draal been… dating? Courting?” He asked, not sure which term to use.

I smile, “Courting. Three days, though I technically didn’t give him an answer till after your fight.” I explained.

“Why not?” Jim asked, curious.

“He asked me to wait, probably worried about the fight. He wasn’t planning on killing you till Blinky insulted him at the bar. Just so you know.” I told him. Watching for his reaction.

He groaned, “Now you tell me?” Sighing he put his head on the counter, “You’re happy right?”

I looked at him confused, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“With Draal I mean, he makes you happy right?” Jim clarified, sitting up with a serious expression.

I smiled softly, nodding. “Very happy,” I clasped his shoulder, “You don’t need to worry about him when it comes to me Jim, you know better than anyone I don’t take people’s shit.”

He laughed and nodded, “Then I’m happy for you. Won’t it be weird though? Compared to trolls we age really fast.”

I shook my head, “Humans age really fast compared to Trolls, but I’m not human. Vendel told me centuries was still considered young for a sorceress. I don’t think I have to worry about aging too fast.”

Jim’s eyes widened, looking at me in slight awe. “You’re going to be really old one day,” he teased.

I laughed, ruffling his hair. “Shush you! I will be a thousand years old and yelling at kids to get off my lawn!” I grinned pulling back. “So, it doesn’t bug you?” I asked.

Jim shook his head, “He makes you happy, that’s all that matters. Besides, you and I both know that humans can be trash in marriages,” he said, frowning at the thought of his dad.

I hugged him tight, “Yeah, though, Claire’s lucky, you’re already trained.” I teased, letting him go.

He laughed before getting up, “I’m heading to bed, need anything?”

I shook my head, “No, I’ll be up after I check on Draal. Night Jim.” I waved him off as he headed upstairs. I went to the basement, heading down to find Draal sniffing at the walls. “Something wrong?”

Draal hummed, knocking his knuckles against the wall he was sniffing. “You mentioned making an entrance down here, this wall leads to the sewers.” He explained, punching through it to make a fist-sized hole. “See?” He asked, stepping back.

I laughed but looked through the hole. “Alright, it looks like we know where your door will go.” I smiled up at him. “How are you doing?”

Draal looked down at me in thought for a moment, “I am fine, grateful that the Trollhunter didn’t kill me, and… elated that you accepted, destroyed honor and all.”

I shook my head, “It might not mean much, but protecting my family, protecting me tonight, that was honorable. If the trolls that have known you longer than I have, can’t see how honorable you are, they don’t deserve to be around you. Let Trollmarket judge, you are an amazing warrior, trainer, and mate.” I told him, nuzzling under his chin. “Never let any tell you otherwise.”

He smiled, hugging me close. “You are a strange one River. You damn honor over life, yet refuse to let others insult mine.”

“Yeah, well I’m your strange one, and I’ll fight anyone who tries insulting my mate,” I said, feeling protective of Draal, even if he was more physically capable of protecting himself.

He grinned as I said I was his, nuzzling under my chin. “I’m going to have to keep an eye on you if you start picking fights.” He stated.

I shrugged, “To be fair, I was never one for rules, and I’m definitely going to get in trouble. Between Jim and I, I’m the reckless one.”

“You sound as if you’ve always been more Trollish than human,” Draal smirked.

I grinned up at him, “Considering I was never human? It makes a lot of sense, whether I knew it or not. Though it is weird that I’m not human and Jim is since we’re blood-related.” I tilt my head thinking.

Draal sat by the furnace, holding me as he hummed in thought, “Well, you would only need to have one parent that had magic in their blood. How are you related to Jim?”

“His father and mine were brothers,” I told him, relaxing in his hold.

“Then your mother was a sorceress. What happened to your parents, you mentioned understanding the pain of losing family before?” Draal asked, unsure if he should be asking.

“Well… my mother passed away while giving birth to me, at least that’s what I’ve been told. There aren’t documents on her death, so I’m not actually sure. My father, he went missing when I was about 5 years old. Since uncle Jim, who is James Lake Sr., was my closest relative, he and aunt Barbara, who you know as my and Jim’s mom, adopted me. Jim was only 3 years old when I came to live with them.” I told Draal, patting his arm to reassure that it was okay to ask.

Draal frowned realizing I really didn’t know anything about my family. “That is… unfortunate.” He states, not sure how to react, choosing to nuzzle the top of my head in comfort.

I shrugged, leaning into the contact, “I’m just grateful that I got to grow up with Mom and Jim,” I smiled, nuzzling him. “I might not have ever found out what I was if I wasn’t here, and I probably would have never been to Trollmarket, or have met you. So, I am very grateful that I’m here…” I trailed off into a yawn, huffing at my own tiredness. “I can’t wait till I fully adjust; I’d rather stay up with you over sleeping…” I pouted.

Draal chuckled at the pout, “You should head up to bed, you need to rest,” he scolded lightly.

“Do you need anything? Blankets or pillows? Maybe a rock?” I asked, unsure of how to keep him comfortable.

Draal shook his head, getting up to carry me to the stairs, “I will be fine, I can work on carving out a doorway tonight.” He sat me on my feet, nuzzling my cheek. “Good night, River.”

I rub my eyes, smiling at him. “Good night, Draal.” I kiss his cheek before heading upstairs to bed.

 [Third-Person POV]

Nomura rushed to Strickler’s house, snarling as she entered. “We have a problem.”

Strickler sighed, looking up from the book of Ga-Huel, “What happened to you?” He asked taking in her disheveled appearance.

“The Trollhunter and his little guardians happened!” She growled, sitting on one of the lounge chairs, “I was right.”

“About?” Strickler asked, putting the book down.

“The Witch, it was Draal’s scent on her.” Nomura huffed, rubbing the tender stone where River clipped her face.

“Oh, and are we sure she’s a witch? Bular could be exaggerating.” Strickler snickered, watching Nomura tend to her wounds.

Nomura snarled, baring her teeth at him, “She can wield daylight and I don’t mean the damned sword, I could’ve been turned to stone!” she barked at him, annoyed that he was enjoying this.

Strickler’s face fell, looking to the book of Ga-Huel, “A sorceress that can wield daylight means…”

“Merlin’s blood.” Nomura finished for him, smirking at the fear on his face. “Bular won’t be happy to know he has a successor.”

“We are going to deal with this problem, it looks like we will be having two changelings brought in.” he explained, smirking.

Nomura’s eyes narrowed, studying Strickler, “Two? We only made the exchange for one.”

Strickler smirked, pulling out his phone, “And they would be too young to deal with her, so I’ll bring in someone more age appropriate. If she likes the son of Kanjigar, then I have the perfect changeling in mind.” He turned to Nomura; eyes glowing. “She could be an asset if manipulated properly.”

Nomura grinned with a snarl, “Now that is interesting. What of Gunmar?”

Strickler waved her off, heading out the door. “I’ll convince Gunmar that she can be used.”

After watching him leave, Nomura huffed, settling on the lounge chair to rest, “Is it really that simple?”

 [River’s POV]

I decided to spend my day with Draal and far away from Trollmarket, still angry with how they had treated Draal. We were sitting in the basement going over how to fix it up to make him comfortable.

“So, we can get a metal door, we can check the scrap yard for different items. Do you sleep at all?” I asked Draal, sitting in his lap and drawing the plans out as we came up with ideas.

Draal nodded, “Not as often as human’s but yes.”

“What kind of bed do you need? Do you need a bed?” I tilted my head back enough to look up at him.

“Trolls make their own ‘beds,’ since how we sleep isn’t as simple as a human.” He explained smirking down at me.

“Is it because you all have different features? Like Vendel couldn’t sleep on his side due to his horns?” I ask, returning his smirk.

Draal nodded, “Yes. I prefer to sleep on my back, but with the spikes, I have to find soft malleable materials so they don’t tear them apart. I tend to build more of what you call a nest.”

I grinned trying to imagine Draal picking twigs like a nesting bird. “So, we need lots of blankets and pillows, maybe a frame so it holds shape.”

Humming at the suggestion, Draal tilted his head in thought. “With a frame, I wouldn’t have to rebuild it often.” He grinned, nuzzling my cheek.

I laughed, nuzzling back before pulling away. “I’m going to assume you like that idea then?” He simply nodded as I drew out dimensions for a squared frame.

“All right. Do your worst.” Jim’s voice came from the window leading to the back yard. Draal and I looked at it confused. Hearing Toby grunt, the distinct sound of daylight cutting through something, and a small explosion, we exchanged worried glances, getting up quickly to check on the boys.

Heading out the back door we see Toby cheering from the ground as shredded paper floats around the backyard. Jim was using daylight on all the junk Draal and I moved out of the basement. “It’s like a ticker tape parade of awesome!” Toby yelled, throwing his arms up.

Draal growled, heading out the door, irritated that they were fooling around with the armor. “What is this mockery?” he snarled to Jim.

“Oh, hey, Draal. River.” Jim greet us both as I walked up next to Draal, surveying the damage Jim and Toby were able to do. “Just working on some sword fighting skills.” Jim chuckled nervously.

“By shredding old magazines?” I asked, arching a brow at Jim’s idea of training. This couldn’t be what Blinky had been teaching him. He wouldn’t have bested Draal if that was the case.

Draal stalked forward, staying in the shade as the sun set behind the trees. “The sword of Daylight is not a toy to be played with.” Draal began to scold Jim, he and Toby lining up to take the scolding. I smirked watching them as Draal continued, “It is a hallowed obligation I have spent my entire life training to be worthy of.”

Jim winced slightly, looking at the sword before swinging it up. “Want to take it for a spin?” He asked Draal, who only gave a snort in response. Jim held the sword out to him, serious about him taking it.

Draal looked from the sword to Jim in disbelief before taking it slowly. He raised the blade so the metal could reflect the setting sun, his eyes widened seeing something in the blade before it began to glow, disappearing in the light. Draal looked at his empty hand, sighing as the blade return to Jim’s hand.

“Sorry. I forgot.” Jim frowned, hoping that hadn’t upset Draal more.

Draal sighed, a pained expression flashing across his face before turning to face Jim. “If my destiny is to not hold the sword, perhaps it is to teach you how to properly wield it.” Draal grabbed a lamp we had brought out along with the other junk from the basement, he threw the lampshade off before swinging at Jim, demonstrating different techniques before bringing it down toward Jim’s head.

Jim squeezed his eye shut, flinching at the thought of getting his lights knocked out by a lamp. Opening his eye’s after a moment to see the lamp had stopped a hair from his head.

“Your blade is but an extension of your body, and your body and extension of your eyes.” Draal turned to me smirking, swinging towards me.

I pulled my lance out, extending it as I blocked the lamp from hitting me, sliding down to where Draal held the post I shifted the lance so it was still holding him back but I was able to smack the side of his head.

Jim and Toby watched, mouths hanging opening at the speed Draal and I fought with. Toby settled himself by the fence, excited to see what would happen.

Draal grinned at my attack before pulling away to face Jim. “Like that. Now, mimic my movements Trollhunter.” He began in a resting position, the lamp held out in front of him. Jim copied the stance then Draal swung the lamp down swiftly before pulling it up over his head, standing on one foot.

I leaned on the fence next to Toby, smirking as I realized these were the same movements Draal had taught me when he began training me.

Toby looked up to me, “So, you spent the whole day with Draal? How was that?”

I laughed, sliding down the fence to sit with him, “Oh right, you don’t know yet.” I was about to explain but Toby snickering cut me off.

“That you and Draal flirt? It was obvious.” He said, mischief oozing from his smile. “So, when are you two going to start dating?” He asked, trying to tease me.

I smirked at him, “A little late for that Tobes, we’ve been courting for almost a week now.” I grinned at the surprise on his face.

“Courting? Isn’t that like, more serious?” He asked, cheering as Jim was able to incorporate more moves into the training.

I nod, “From what I know it is.”

Toby smirked at me, “Well, at least you have a boyfriend as dense as you. Since he’s, you know, made from stone.”

“What do you mean dense?” my brow furrowed as I looked to Toby, confused by his comment.

“You seriously have no idea when someone is trying to flirt with you, you straight up told ‘Tight Jeans’ Hank to, ‘piss off’ was it?” He laughed at my confusion.

“He was being rude!” I huffed out, irritated that he found this amusing.

“Well hey, at least we know you recognized someone’s flirting.” Toby patted my shoulder, “Who knew they’d have to be a troll to get your attention?”

As the sun set into the night, Jim had all the movements Draal had taught him down, easily maneuvering through them with Daylight. Sparring with him now. Draal flipped towards Jim, knocking him back before pinning him to the side of the house, lamp pressed to his neck. Getting in Jim’s face, Draal smirked, “A real fight is never predictable, Trollhunter. You have to expect the unexpected and learn to embody the armor, force it to do what you want,” he explained to Jim, keeping him pinned.

Jim looked at his open hand, lowering it under the post near Draal’s chest. He looked to the hand holding Daylight, focusing on it. Daylight glowed blue before disappearing from his left hand and reappearing in his right. He grinned, lifting the blade just enough to tap Draal’s chest.

Draal laughed, releasing Jim. Thrilled he was able to manipulate the armor. “Well done Trollhunter!” He clasped Jim’s shoulder.

A chime coming from Toby’s back pocket drew our attention. “Shoot! We’re supposed to meet Blinky at the museum now.” Toby scrambled to get up.

“Ah!” Jim jolted, letting the armor fade. “We’ll work on this more later, okay, Draal?” He asked while running after Toby, leaving Draal and I in the back yard.

Draal sighed, looking over the lamp before eating the lightbulb with a grin. I laughed, getting up. “How about we get some of those tacos?” I asked him.

“From the taco truck?” He asked, setting the lamp down, and fixing the shade on it.

I nod, nuzzling under his chin. “Yup, and we can check out the scrap yard for materials to fix the basement up!” I grin, walking out of the backyard, staying near the woods.

Draal hummed, excited for the taco truck and curious about the scrap yard. “We need materials for a door, and a bed frame?” He asked, falling in step with me.

“Those will get us started. We’ll still need pillow and blankets, maybe even a mattress for the bottom so it's more comfortable.” I listed off, as we head into town where the Taco Truck usually parks.

Once we made it to the Taco Truck, Draal stayed in the alleyway as I went to order. I ordered a box of burritos this time, grinning as Stuart, the Taco Truck owner, handed them over. “Have fun on your date!” He called out, after me.

I paused on my way back to Draal to look as Stuart confused, there’s no way he could’ve seen Draal in the alley. “Date?”

Stuart chuckled “Well you’re not ordering for Toby, and Jim only gets tacos, so you must be ordering for someone else, I just figured it was a little date.” He grinned, turning to close up the Taco Truck.

I smiled, running to Draal when his back was turned.

Draal snarled pulling me close, having heard the conversation. “This fleshbag notices too much.”

I nod, smiling still, “Well he wasn’t totally wrong, this is what a lot of ‘fleshbags’ do for dates.”

Draal looked down at me confused, “Hide in alley’s while one orders food then go ‘scrapping,’ as you called it?”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I meant dinner and spending time together, away from the house.”

Draal tilted his head in thought before nodding. “Then these ‘dates,’ everyone goes on them?” he asked, picking me up to head to our billboard hiding spot.

“Hm, well for humans it’s something boyfriends, girlfriends, and fiancés do a lot, married couples too, oh and there are friend dates which is really just doing date-like activities but you’re not a couple.” I tried explaining, looking up to see if he understands.

“Courting sounds easier, fewer steps involved, how is a friend different than a boy- or girlfriend? Or a fiancé?” Draal asked, more confused by the supposed titles, “Wouldn’t they all be considered friend dates?”

“No, a boyfriend is generally a boy you are in a relationship with, a girlfriend would be a girl you’re in a relationship with, friends are more along the lines of siblings, and fiancé is the when someone in the relationship proposes marriage to the other, once you’re married you are then called a husband or a wife.” I counted each step out on my fingers hoping I covered everything.

“The in human terms we are considered fiancés?” Draal sat me down on the edge of the billboard before joining me, trying to understand the differences.

“Well, I’m not sure, it depends on how serious Troll courting is,” I told him, taking a burrito before handing him the box.

“Trolls do not court just anyone if we don’t believe the person is worthy to be bound for our existence then we do not pursue them.” Draal explained, sniffing at the box, gauging the new food.

“Then it’s definitely more along the lines of fiancés!” I nodded to myself, blushing a bit realizing how serious it was for Draal to even consider courting me. “Which brings up a few questions. We haven’t known each other long even for humans, let alone Trolls.” I began, taking a bit of my food.

“River, that wasn’t a question.” Draal teased, watching how I ate before trying to eat his own food.

I pouted, waving him off for a moment, “Shush, food was too tempting. How long does it usually take a Troll to figure out if they want to court someone?” I finally asked.

Draal paused, considering his words for a moment, “Anywhere between years and decades, usually. Though some have courted very early into meeting, it depends on the troll,” he answered, tossing another burrito in his mouth, enjoying the food.

“When did you know?” I asked, trying to focus on the food, I wasn’t the best at these conversations. As Toby pointed out, I could be very dense.

Draal smirked, eyeing me for a moment, “When you didn’t back down. You believed you were as weak as any other human, and you still stood between the Trollhunter and me when I tried to throw you out of Trollmarket. You didn’t even seem to be bothered with the fact that I could’ve snapped you in two,” he explained, grinning.

I turned dark red, looking up at him in shock, “That was literally the first day we met! Before we even talked!” I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that a simple act of being protective was what had convinced Draal I was worth his time in the first place.

“I never said Trolls didn’t court after first encounters. They tend to make lasting impressions.” He spoke up, smirking as my face was changing colors, “What of you? You seemed to have had an answer right away, even though I asked you to wait.”

I let my head fall into one of my hands, embarrassed, “Well, I liked you right away. Even though you were angry and trying to scare Jim, I understood where it was coming from.” I looked up to the forest thinking, “It really grew from out first walk home when we got to talk. When you stopped your fight with Jim to catch me from launching myself off a wall, walking me home after too. Everything felt… normal? Like I was home.” I looked up at him to see his brow ridge furrow in confusion. “Does that not make sense?”

“Your home is with your mom and Jim. How was spending time with me home?” Draal asked, unsure of what I meant.

“I live in a house with mom and Jim, but it’s not home. Home doesn’t always mean the place you live at, it can also mean the place you want to be, where you feel like yourself.” I tried to explain, hoping it made sense. “I’ve always been out of place, even with my family, and no surprise there anymore, turns out I’m not human. With you though? I don’t feel out of place like I can do or be whatever I want.”

Draal nodded, smiling at my explanation, “You don’t feel like you have to hide.” He stated a look of understanding on his face as I nodded. Draal leaned down to nuzzle my cheek, still smiling. “I will never tell you what to be, or what to do. If I don’t understand something, I can ask.”

I smile, nuzzling back as the red in my cheeks settle, “Thank you Draal,” I grin up at him, “Besides, I don’t think you’ll find anyone who’s not intimidated by you and isn’t scared to toss you in a fight.”

Draal laughed, picking me up. “That is very true! Even the trolls are too timid to fight me, you, however, hold no fear when it comes to picking a fight. Which isn’t always best, but you wouldn’t be my mate if you weren’t fearless.” He spoke, climbing down from the billboard so we could head to the scrap yard.

I laughed, holding on, “I promise to keep my temper in check, mostly, and to not pick too many fights, which may vary depending on how insulting the troll or fleshy is being.” I state, raising my right hand.

Draal shook his head, laughing at my little vow. “I couldn’t ask for more. Though if you get hurt, I will break into Trollmarket and tear a limb or two off of the offender.”

I giggled at the thought of Draal running rampant through Trollmarket. “That would not end well for them.” I began pointing the way for Draal to go. “It’s on the other side of town. It shouldn’t be too busy with how late it’s gotten.”

Draal nods and allows me to lead from my perch on his arm. Pointing out different places in town as we passed by. Pausing at my favorited game shop, “Oh, there they have pieces for ‘Maces and Talons’ which is an amazing strategy game!” I explained to Draal as we continued, “There are two factions and the goal is to take over the other faction or to find a way to kill the leader and take over that wat.”

Draal smiles and hums during my explanation of the game, asking how it works until we reached the scrap yard. He climbed over the fence before setting me down. “This is an amazing source of materials, why do fleshbags discard these?” He asked as we got to work finding the pieces we needed.

“Not everyone likes to reuse items or find a new purpose for them, but this place is set up so other people can come in for the materials and use them, so nothing stays here too long.” I smiled, pulling up a large, thick sheet of metal to compare it to Draal’s height. “This one is close, maybe a little bigger.”

Draal took the sheet holding it under his arm in case I changed my mind. “Do you get materials here often?”

“Mostly for art projects. I build things and spray paint them, it’s a lot of fun!” I grin up at him, grabbing metal pipes to make a framework for his bed.

Draal hummed, taking more materials from me as we searched over the entire scrap yard, pausing to eat some of the shinier metal he finds. “I like this ‘scrap yard’,” Draal grinned, heaving the last of the materials we found onto his shoulder. “Anything else we need from here?”

I pulled out the drawings, checking what we grabbed so far and comparing it to what we needed. “I think metal wise we are good. I’m going to have to find somewhere that sells giant pillows, or I could make them… which means the fabric store. I can run to one tomorrow after classes to get those.” I nod to myself.

Draal chuckled, picking me up and tossing me up onto the shoulder not carrying the metal we found. “Alright, for now, let’s focus on this task or you’ll be breaking into the ‘fabric shop’,” he spoke, understanding that I could become easily distracted and focused on other tasks.

I laugh and pat between his horn, “Sounds good to me, let's get home so we can at least put your door up!” I grinned; glad we were able to make the basement work for him.

Draal smiles up to me as he heads off for home, staying in the trees to get to the back yard. He stopped outside seeing the lights on. “Someone’s back.”

I checked my phone for the time, “Mom should still be at work, it must be Jim.” I jumped off Draal’s shoulder going to the door. “I’ll check just in case.” I head inside, seeing Jim at the dining room with his textbooks out. “Jim is mom home?”

Jim shook his head, sighing as he let it fall to the textbook.

I waved Draal in before going back to Jim, worried about him. “What happened tonight?”

“The bridge is missing, they moved it and now Vendel thinks I’m making up stories. We have to find a way to weed out changelings to see if anyone else in town is working with Nomura and Bular.” Jim explained, sitting back up. “Blinky said he would have an answer tomorrow on how to find them.”

Draal came in and set the metal down by the door. “Unsurprising, Blinkous is fond of conspiracies and it has been an issue in the past for Trollmarket. I don’t doubt you or River though. If the bridge was here, they had to have moved it. We will find the changelings, Trollhunter.” He told Jim, clasping his shoulder reassuringly.

I nodded, agreeing with Draal, “We can help too, after all it’ll be easier if we’re all looking for them.”

Jim smiles at Draal and me, “Thank you, I’m glad not everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

I snort crossing my arms over my chest, “I’m pretty sure I’d recognize the bridge I got thrown into during our fight.”

Draal growled slightly, “If you said it was there then it was. Vendel will get proof one way or another.”

Jim nodded, yawning. I smiled, ruffling his hair, “For now, I think you need to get some sleep. We’ve got class in the morning.”

“Alright, I don’t think I can stand looking at another algebra equation anyway.” Jim stood, heading upstairs to bed. “Night River! Night Draal!”

Draal nodded to him before grabbing the scrap metal and heading downstairs to the basement.

I waved to Jim, following after Draal. “Ready to work on your door?” I asked, trying to suppress a yawn.

Draal chuckled, pressing his forehead to mine. “I will handle the door. You go rest for your learning prison. Jim will need help fighting if he uncovers one there.”

I huffed slightly but nod, nuzzling my nose under his jaw, “Alright, alright… We’ll get the rest of the stuff for your bed tomorrow; do you need to sleep soon?”

Draal tilted his head in thought, “I slept before my match with Jim so I should be fine for a while longer.”

“Okay, night Draal,” I smiled, kissing his cheek before heading up to bed.

“Goodnight River,” Draal spoke quietly, getting to work on the door, careful not to make too much noise as Jim and I slept.

The next day on our way to school Toby was asking about what we should do about the bridge moving. “So, say what we saw wasn’t just an illusion and they really did move it. How could we possibly find it?”

“Well, I don’t think we’re gonna be lucky enough to stumble on it again, Tobes.” Jim sighed as we crossed the street onto the school campus.

“If we find more changelings, we either watch them or interrogate them.” I spoke up, “Or we could see if there is a way to trace the stones, if they found them in the first place why couldn’t we?”

“Well all we know for sure is that Nomura didn’t move it by herself,” Jim said, looking around the street as we spoke.

“So, more changelings, that’s dangerous.” Toby huffed.

“Oh, no.” Jim became quiet, keeping his head down as Claire was dropped off near us.

“Claire? A changeling?” Toby asked, confused by Jim’s response.

“The letter?” I asked Jim, referring to the similar ones he wrote mom, Toby, and I.

Jim nodded, watching Claire, hoping she wouldn’t approach, “When I thought I was gonna die, I wrote Claire a letter, too, and told her everything.” He explained to Toby.

“Everything?” Toby asked, eyes wide.

“Everything,” Jim repeated, walking faster as the bell rings.

“There you are!” Claire yelled from behind us, running to Jim.

“Hey, Claire,” Toby greeted quickly.

“Hey, Colby, River.” She waved to Toby and me as she ran after Jim.

“It’s Toby actually. Not that it matters. You can call me whatever you like.” Toby called after her, grinning like an idiot.

I rolled my eyes and whacked him on the head, heading to my art class, “Don’t forget we’re eating off campus for lunch!” I called to Toby before walking in.

During lunch period, Jim, Toby, and I headed straight for Trollmarket, Jim was in a daze the entire way. Once we arrived, Blinky began explaining how we were going to uproot the changelings. “Master Jim?” He called out, confused by Jim’s daze.

“Master Jim!” Aaarrrgghh yelled from behind Jim, causing him to jump and scream.

“Yes, sorry. Paying attention. Paying attention!” He quickly recovered from the scare, looking to Blinky.

“As I was saying,” Blinky began to explain again, “assuming that Killahead Bridge was in Arcadia, and it was indeed, as you say, delivered to a clandestine location, that would mean more changelings, scavenging, assembling and disassembling.” Blinky lead us towards a rocky opening with a giant metal door covered in windows. “If we can prove that the museum curator was not working alone, then Vendel might start believing that you saw Killahead Bridge.”

“So, we just need to find another Changeling,” I spoke up, keeping an eye on the time so we weren’t late for class.

“Then how do we find one?” Jim asked.

Aaarrrgghh answered from behind us as we approached the door. “RotGut’s.”

“Purveyor of fine charms, totems, and spells.” Blinky said, gesturing to the door, “Follow my lead.” He instructed before knocking on the door and stepping back.

A window near the top of the door opened to reveal the blue eye of a large orange troll, “Ailment or curse?” He asked as a window near the bottom of the door opened to reveal the orange eye or a bluish green troll.

“Oi, numbskull!” He scolded the taller troll behind the door, “I’m supposed to answer it!”

“But I already did answer it.” The taller of the two replied.

“What is not clear about ‘I deal with the customers,” He shut the window, “you handle the wizardry’?”

“What kind of wizardry items do they sell?” I asked Blinky as the trolls continued to argue behind the door.

“Anything you might need, and some you never knew you needed,” Blinky answered with a grin. I gave him a blank stare back, hoping he understood how unhelpful that answer was.

The Bluish green troll opened his window again, “Welcome to RotGuts. How may we service you?”

“Totem, my good troll,” Blinky answered, getting closer to the window to whisper, “We suspect one of these fleshbags may be a changeling.”

The orange troll opened his window to peer down at us as soon as changelings were mentioned. Aaarrrgghh tilted his head down slightly so he was in the orange trolls view, “Other fleshbags,” he stated simply.

“You’re gonna need a gaggletack.” The large troll spoke.

The bluish-green troll chuckled, “Unfortunately, you see, we’re running a bit short on those. Very hard to get.”

The large troll looked down confused, “but I’ve got a bag of them right here.”

“What in the world?” The smaller troll huffed. “If you’ll excuse us for one moment.” He shut the window and began to scold the taller troll.

“I thought we were trying to help these nice lads.” The larger troll responded to the smaller one’s muffled scolding, shutting his window. I giggled realizing the tall troll was too nice, while the smaller of the two had been trying to get more out of the deal.

“Gaggletack?” Toby asked, scratching his head at the confusing exchange.

“Rare artifact,” Aaarrrgghh stated.

“Exceedingly rare. An object of great mystery. With physical contact, it reveals the true nature of a changeling.” Blinky explained.

Suddenly a drawer on the door opened and outshot a metal horseshoe, hitting Toby in the face. “It hurts!” He groaned, falling back.

“A gaggletack… is a horseshoe?” I asked, picking it up, yelping as it burned my hand, letting it drop to the ground again.

“Made of pure iron, hurts magic.” Aaarrrgghh frown, nudging my burnt palm with his nose.

“Why would you put such a precious thing on a horse’s foot?” Blinky asked incredulously. “Forgive me River, I forgot to warn you.”

Jim picked up the gaggletack, keeping it away from me, “So it reveals Changelings and hurts sorcerers? Are you going to be okay River?”

I nod, speaking the healing incantation quickly, sighing in relief as the burn fades, “All good, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be to help.”

Toby sat up confused, “Isn’t your lance made of iron? How come that doesn’t burn?”

“Treated,” Aaarrrgghh spoke up, “Steel, not iron.”

I nod looking to my collapsed lance hanging off my belt. “So, that’s why Vendel wouldn’t let me touch it.”

“Indeed.” Blinky nodded to me before turning to Jim, “Beware, Master Jim, changelings are swapped with their human counterparts at birth. So, it is likely that these Troll-pretenders have dwelt amongst you for decades.”

I looked at my phone, eyes widening, “Bushigal!” I yelled, “We gotta get back to school!” I took off running for the entrance of Trollmarket.

Blinky’s mouth dropped at my cursing in Trollish.

“Gotta go Blink! Aaarrrgghh! Thanks for the help!” Jim yelled as he and Toby ran after me.

Once we're back on campus, Toby was the first to try the gaggletack out on Coach Lawrence, who ended up making Toby do 50 push-ups for whacking him with a horseshoe.

During a passing period, Jim tried the gaggletack on Eli, I snorted shaking my head. “Even I could’ve told you that…”

Later on, Toby set up a horseshoe tossing booth. I spray painted a target and sign for him quickly and he waited for most of our break there.

I grabbed extra gloves from my geology and earth science class with Toby so I could hold the gaggletack. During a theater break, when the drama class was held and if you were in the up and coming play you got to skip and rehearse, I went with Jim to check all the kids. Grinning I threw the horseshoe as hard as I could without using magic at Steve’s head. Huffing when it didn’t work. Jim retrieved the horseshoe from the other side under the red curtain.

Jim passed the gaggletack to Toby, who at this point began tapping people with it as he walked by, tired of looking for changelings and keeping track of was already checked. He met up with Jim and me near our lockers.

“Any luck?” Jim asked, seeing Toby’s worn out expression.

“Nope,” Toby sighed, leaning against his locker.

“Yeah, us too.” I sighed finally taking the gloves off and tossing them.

Toby peered around Jim and me as Strickler’s voice grew closer. “You, uh, try this out on Mr. Strickler?” Toby asked Jim.

“Come on. You really think he is one?” Jim asked. He and Toby began arguing over the gaggletack, before Toby let go.

“Fine, we’ll do it later.” He spoke before yanking the gaggletack out of Jim’s hand’s and tossing it at Strickler’s feet.

Strickler paused, looking down at the gaggletack, brow arched as he looked up to Jim, Toby, and I.”

“Whoopsy! Slipped,” Toby grinned, trying to play it off a sheepish.

“Sorry.” Jim began to apologize before Toby cut him off, asking Strickler if he could pick the gaggletack up. I rolled my eyes at how obvious he was being.

Strickler scoffed, “And waste such idle hands as your own, Mr. Domzalski?” He asked gesturing to Toby.

Jim spoke up quickly, “Our backs!” He nodded to himself, “Coach Lawrence put us through the wringer this morning.” He chuckled, trying to play it off. Toby nodded quickly.

Claire walked up picking the gaggletack up, “Here you go, Mr. Strickler. Here’s your… horseshoe back.” She held it out to him.

“Thank you, Ms. Nunez, but that belongs to Mr. Lake.” Strickler spoke up, taking a slight step back.

“Oh. Well, that would explain the flying horseshoes.” She spoke, handing it to me at first since I was closest. When I didn’t move to take it, she moved on to Jim, holding it out. “So not going to ask.”

Jim chuckled nervously, taking the gaggletack. Stickler walked up behind Claire; a sympathetic look etched on his face. “Take care of your back, Young Atlas. Such is the danger of carrying the world on one’s shoulder.” He said before walking off.

“Very suspicious,” Toby said, eyes narrowed as he watched Strickler leave.

“Suspicious?” Claire asked, confused by the situation.

Jim chuckled slightly, noticing Claire again. “Claire.”

“Still here.” She shrugged, figuring she was missing something.

“What’s up?” Jim asked, scratching the back of his neck.

“You’re still coming home with me, right?” She asked.

Toby and I exchanged smirks as Jim smiled, “Oh, right!” He turned slightly to us, “Claire and I are gonna go to her house… for math stuff.”

I snickered at his terrible explanation as the walked off, avoiding the gaggletack as Jim slammed it in Toby’s face, walking off with Claire. “Alright Tobes, I gotta go to the fabric store. Have fun at your appointment.” I waved, walking into town.

I walked into one of the larger shops in the town. Shelves lined the walls, overflowing with fabric and stuffing. Walking around I grabbed different gray and blue fabrics, setting them on the counter as I collected them. After grabbing about five different spools I filtered through the different types of filling, grabbing as many as I could carry to the counter.

A little old lady behind the counter finally took notice of me, “Ah! River! Working on another school project?” she asked me, taking the filling from me.

“Hi, Ms. Kamaria, something like that… It’s for the play the school is putting on. I need to make a giant bed for one of the scenes.” I explained, hoping she wouldn’t ask too much.

“A bed huh? Do you have anything for the base yet sweetie?” Mr. Kamaria asked. She’s always been a help to me on different art projects.

“I have the frame done so far,” I explained, helping her bag the fabric and stuffing.

“Oh! I’ve got something that will work for the mattress if you want!” She grinned rushing to the back of the store.

I laughed as she rushed off to find whatever it was, she thought I needed. After years of shopping here, I learned quickly that if Ms. Kamaria said you needed something, you actually needed it. After a few minutes he returned pushing a flatbed cart with large rolls of condensed foam.

“Here we go! You can use the cart to get everything home too, I know you’ll look after it for me.” She grinned up to me, wringing everything up.

I paid her asking price and loaded up the cart with everything. Waving to her as I left, “Bye, Ms. Kamaria! Thank you for the help!”

“Bye sweetie, good luck with your play!” She waved off, watching me head done the block before returning to her shop.

I walked the cart, grinning at everything I picked up. This was gonna be fun to put together. As I got home, I brought the cart into the garage, rushing in and down to the basement to get Draal. “I got the stuff for your bed!” I grinned, hugging him once I got close enough.

He chuckled, returning the hug. “Is that where you’ve been? Your fleshy prison let out a while ago.”

I huffed, nuzzling under his chin, “Not the entire time, I was helping Jim and Toby look for changelings after class. Nothing turned up, but I now know I can’t touch iron.” Draal growled, checking my hands quickly. I smiled softly, “I’m okay, used the healing incantation.”

He nodded, turning my hands over a couple times to make sure. “Alright, I’ll help bring in the materials.” He picked me up with a smirk, heading up the stairs and into the garage.

I laughed, settled on his back as he walked to the garage. He sat me down next to the cart, sniffing over the materials. Pausing at the rolled foam. “What is this?”

“It’s foam for the mattress portion, it's malleable enough that your spikes won’t damage it and this way it won’t just be blankets and pillows!” I explained, grabbing the bags filled with stuffing for the pillows as Draal grabbed the rolls or foam and fabric.

As we got all the materials down in the basement, my phone went off playing Jim’s ringtone. “Hey, Jim... are you running?” I asked, hearing he was out of breath.

“Toby! Dentist!” Jim yelled into the phone as he ran, I could hear the sound of his armor being activated.

“We’re coming,” I hung up, looking to Draal, Toby found a changeling, from Jim’s panic, I think he’s in trouble.

Draal nodded, picking me up and setting me on his back, opening the steel door to the sewers. “This way will be faster, hold on tight.” He instructed before taking off, running on all fours. I held on tight, using the GPS on my phone to guide us to Toby’s dental office.

When Draal and I arrived, Blinky, Toby, and Aaarrrgghh were laughing hysterically along with Jim and another troll who was running around the examination chair. “What in Daya’s name is going on?” I asked, confused.

Jim pointed at the female troll, trying to gasp for air, “Changeling!” was all he could get out.

I jumped off Draal’s back, tacking my lance out, I held my breath, trying to stave off the laughing gas, and surged my magic through the lance. Shooting at the changeling, hitting her arm as Toby kicked her slightly out of the way as he was trying to get feeling in his limbs.

The changeling screeched as the arm my magic touched turned to stone and disintegrated. She snarled and lunged for me but Jim got in the way. She fell on him and snarled, pinning his arms. Jim was able to get one of his arms free, as he did he focused on Daylight and it shifted from the pinned hand to his free one, plunging into the changeling’s chest, dusting her.

“There goes proof,” Aaarrrgghh said from the ceiling.

“Oh, my gosh! She’s in my mouth!” Toby started yelling, coughing up dust.

I groaned looking down at the dust covering me. “This is disgusting…” Draal came over, pressing her forehead to mine, checking to make sure I was okay.

Jim’s armor deactivated as he groaned, “Oh, no! I killed our only evidence of changelings in Arcadia.”

“You finished the fight, Master Jim, and in self-defense for that matter.” Blinky sighed, patting his shoulder. “Vendel may continue to have his doubts, but we continue to have our lives. A fair bargain, I’d say.” Blinky smiled.

“Just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing in Toby’s dentist’s office, I only called River.” He asked, confused about how Blinky and Aaarrrgghh new to come.

“I thought it was possible that danger may come to either of you should you cross paths with the wrong changeling. So, we followed Tobias as a precaution.” Blinky explained as Aaarrrgghh finally fell through the skylight into the office. “It looks like we are officially out of laughing gas. We should depart.” Blinking stated as he began to walk out.

Aaarrrgghh being too big for the door began to climb out of the skylight again.

“Hey! Uh, excuse me, wait!” Toby ran around Aaarrrgghh to Blinky, “Look at this place. Do you have some magic artifact that can clean up this mess? He asked quickly.

“Yes.” Blinky answered quickly, “I believe it’s called a ‘Tobias.’’

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Toby sighed, getting to work on cleaning as we all left.

Jim and I still were trying to dust ourselves off as we got home with Aaarrrgghh, Blinky, and Draal. “Quick question, why did my magic turn her arm to stone, doesn’t that only happen in the sun, or with Daylight?” I asked, hoping one of them would have an answer.

Blinky paused, waving his hand in a dismissive manner, “Yes only the sunlight, Daylight, or creeper’s sun poisoning would produce that effect, therefore you must wield some form of daylight.” He kept walking into the kitchen before stopping short, registering his world before turning and grabbing onto my arms with all four hands. “You can harness daylight!” He yelled making me flinch back.

Draal snarled wrenching Blinky’s hands off of me and pulling me back towards him so Blinky would stay out of my face. “Watch it, Galadrigal.”

Jim came to stand next to us, “So, River can wield daylight, as in sunlight. Why is that a cause for you to freak out?”

Aaarrrgghh spoke up, coming to stand behind Blinky, keeping him back from trying to get close while Draal was being protective. “Merlin’s blood.”

“Vendel mentioned something like that before, I thought it was a term for magic in general,” I asked confused, keeping my back against Draal’s chest.

“I general it used to describe someone of magic descent, however being able to harness sunlight, that means you have Merlin’s actual blood in you! You’re descendent in Merlin’s line!” Blinky clapped his hands, excited. “Wait until Vendel hears about this! He might turn to stone from shock!”

“Uh, Blinky, how would River be related, in A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore it states that he had no known offspring,” Jim spoke up, trying to diffuse Blinky’s over excitement before it got out of hand.

“That is true, he had no children, but he did have a sister.” Blinky pointing one of his fingers up in his classic lecturing pose. “Ganieda was Merlin’s younger sister, she too was born a sorceress and training in the arcane, not much is known of her, however, she disappeared centuries ago.

I went cold, feeling the color drain from my skin, “What… did you call her?”

“Ganieda?” Blinky asked, confused by my paling complexion.

“As in aunt Ganieda?” Jim asked, turning to me.

“Aunt?” Blinky asked, looking between Jim and me.

“River’s mother,” Draal spoke up, lifting me as I leaned back further into him. Not sure how to feel about what I learned.

Jim sighed, seeing that I was in shock, “It might be best to drop this.” He pushed Blinky and Aaarrrgghh further from Draal and me so he could explain. “River doesn’t have any information about her mother, just that she died during labor, hearing that she’s a centuries-old sorceress and sister to Merlin? I think you can imagine the shock she’s in.”

Aaarrrgghh nodded, frowning as he looked to me in empathy, knowing what it was like to grow up not knowing your family.

Blinky frowned, clearly understanding my reaction now, “I apologize, I did not know.”

I shook my head slightly, “I’m… fine. It’s just not what I expected…” I tried to explain, curling up in Draal’s hold.

Draal nuzzled the top of my head in a comforting manner, holding my curled-up form tight. “I will keep an eye on her tonight. You should rest Trollhunter.” He nodded to Jim, grabbing a blanket from the couch as he carried me down to the basement. He unrolled the foam coils we just got and made a quick, nest for the night, leaning back against the wall so I could lay on his chest, wrapping the blanket around me.

“I think not knowing was easier…” I finally spoke up, head tucked under Draal’s jaw.

He hummed, petting my hair back, “This scares you,” he finally spoke up, keeping his voice low.

“I’m unsure, I don’t know if it’s going to change anything.” I answered, slowly relaxing with Blinky’s excitement gone. “I’m already treated differently, because I’m a sorceress, but what if being related to Merlin makes everyone treat me even stranger?”

“Simple, we don’t tell anyone, and we’ll gut Blinkous if he does!” Draal made a tearing motion with his arms, obviously joking.

I laughed a bit, uncurling enough to lay along the length of his chest. “Thank you Draal,” I nuzzled his jaw before laying my head back down, keeping it tucked against his neck.

“Of course, you’re my mate, I’ll protect you, even from obnoxious trolls like Blinkous.” Draal smiled at the nuzzle, petting my hair again. “Rest, I’ll keep the vermin away.”

I nod slowly, feeling very protected as I fell asleep on Draal’s chest. Happy he wasn’t acting strange about my bloodline.